Wealthfront Advisers LLC Takes $4.58 Million Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 24,281 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,582,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AVB. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.8% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 4,759 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $968,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter valued at about $1,374,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 9.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 18,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,837,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered AvalonBay Communities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $196.87.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $184.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a PE ratio of 30.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.76. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.10 and a 52-week high of $198.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $187.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.40.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.12). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 33.33%.The firm had revenue of $777.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $772.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $1.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 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.