Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Raises Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 27.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,758 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,647 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 466.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,088 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 896 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,784 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Sherman Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at $116,000. Aew Capital Management L P boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 580,376 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $127,665,000 after acquiring an additional 71,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 28,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,115 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $218.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $31.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.78, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $218.81 and its 200 day moving average is $223.69. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.40 and a 1 year high of $239.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.75 dividend. 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. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 92.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.