Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 182 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AVB. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 91.5% in the second quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 3,099 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $587,000 after buying an additional 1,481 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,610,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 248,699 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,061 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 55.5% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 2,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 1,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 57,789 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,930,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total transaction of $928,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,330.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total value of $928,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,330.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total transaction of $323,925.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,054,985.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE AVB traded up $2.01 on Thursday, reaching $185.70. The company had a trading volume of 407,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 829,027. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.57 and a 1 year high of $198.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $178.87 and a 200-day moving average of $177.31.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by ($1.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 33.56%. The company had revenue of $704.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $701.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 100.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AVB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $206.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $191.50 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Barclays upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $194.00 to $204.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.03.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.