Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $63.11 Million Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its Q4 stake in AvalonBay by 1,765.8% to 348,068 shares, a holding worth about $63.11 million (≈0.25% of the company).
• Wall Street sentiment is largely neutral with four Buy and thirteen Hold ratings, an overall average rating of "Hold" and a $197 average price target after several firms trimmed forecasts.
• AvalonBay raised its quarterly dividend to $1.78 (annualized $7.12) for a ~4.2% yield, though the payout ratio is elevated at about 86.9%.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 1,765.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 348,068 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 329,413 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.25% of AvalonBay Communities worth $63,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.8% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 4,759 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $968,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the second quarter worth $1,374,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 14.2% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,890 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $591,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 18,854 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,837,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AVB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $187.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $190.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $203.00 price objective (down from $208.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $172.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $197.00.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.6%

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $171.09 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.75. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.10 and a 1-year high of $213.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $767.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.38 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 34.57% and a return on equity of 8.78%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $1.78 dividend. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. AvalonBay Communities's payout ratio is 86.94%.

About AvalonBay Communities

AvalonBay Communities, Inc NYSE: AVB is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, redevelops and manages multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on professionally managed apartment communities, offering a range of rental housing options and related resident services. As a REIT, AvalonBay's core activities center on the acquisition and development of apartment assets and the ongoing operations and leasing of those communities.

AvalonBay's operating activities include ground-up development, strategic redevelopment of existing properties, property and asset management, and on-site leasing and resident services.

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