Triasima Portfolio Management inc. Invests $3.67 Million in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Triasima Portfolio Management inc. bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 16,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,673,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Segment Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the third quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.1% in the third quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.7% in the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 1,934 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,094 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total value of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,367,689.33. This represents a 21.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AVB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.60.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $221.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $220.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.31, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.00. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.37 and a twelve month high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. Equities research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 93.02%.

About AvalonBay Communities

AvalonBay Communities, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the development, acquisition, ownership, and operation of multifamily communities. It operates through the following segments: Same Store, Other Stabilized, and Development or Redevelopment. The Same Store segment refers to the operating communities that were owned and had stabilized occupancy.