Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Boosts Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 8.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $12,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 216,153 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,754,000 after acquiring an additional 6,511 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 36,980 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,525,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 78.7% in the 2nd quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 15,702 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,195,000 after purchasing an additional 6,916 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 17.7% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 449,348 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $90,768,000 after purchasing an additional 67,695 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 250.5% during the third quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 8,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 5,826 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $205.00 to $203.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $199.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays boosted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $201.10.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of AVB opened at $175.47 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $166.73 and a twelve month high of $230.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $178.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.17.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.01. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 34.57%.The business had revenue of $767.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $1.78 dividend. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.85%.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.