Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Buys 4,491 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 40.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,491 shares during the period. AvalonBay Communities comprises about 1.4% of Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $3,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 14,180 shares in the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 22,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,918,000 after acquiring an additional 4,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 34,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,837,000 after acquiring an additional 11,064 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $211.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.89, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $218.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.32. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.40 and a 52 week high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. Sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price 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. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.