Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Reduces Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,202 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $16,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,672,682 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,866,011,000 after acquiring an additional 96,790 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,520,036 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,184,712,000 after purchasing an additional 367,853 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,814,430 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $818,653,000 after purchasing an additional 143,646 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 5.2% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,779,484 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $596,533,000 after purchasing an additional 136,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 4.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,594,073 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $556,740,000 after purchasing an additional 105,098 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of AVB opened at $177.29 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $188.17 and its 200 day moving average is $196.56. The company has a market capitalization of $25.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.84. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $166.73 and a 12-month high of $239.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.81 by ($0.06). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 38.78%.The business had revenue of $766.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 85.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AVB. Morgan Stanley upgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $228.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $199.00 price target (down from $213.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $212.92.

AvalonBay Communities 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.