Handelsbanken Fonder AB Grows Stock Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 41.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,350 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,137 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $20,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 56.0% during the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 160 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective (up from $203.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $196.80.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 1.2%

AVB stock opened at $179.59 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $188.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.06. The company has a market capitalization of $25.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.10 and a 12 month high of $198.63.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $777.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $772.37 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 33.33%.During the same period last year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $1.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.34%.

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.