AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB Shares Purchased by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 59,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 14,509 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $10,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AVB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth about $1,394,635,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 76.0% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,355,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $455,077,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,286 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,159,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $935,551,000 after purchasing an additional 944,129 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,497,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $815,360,000 after purchasing an additional 383,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1,765.8% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 348,068 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $63,108,000 after purchasing an additional 329,413 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AVB. Scotiabank decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $187.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $203.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wolfe Research raised AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $203.00 target price (down from $208.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $198.44.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB opened at $186.57 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.95 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.78. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.10 and a 1 year high of $209.86.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $770.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $768.80 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.21% and a return on equity of 9.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.83 EPS. On average, analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is presently 103.19%.

AvalonBay Communities 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.