Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,016 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $11,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 270.0% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 50.0% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 1st quarter valued at about $68,000. 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 recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $210.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $202.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $206.89.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:AVB traded up $1.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $202.52. The company had a trading volume of 159,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 739,772. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.45 and a 1 year high of $208.45. The company has a market cap of $28.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $197.79 and a 200 day moving average of $187.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($1.42). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The firm had revenue of $712.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $706.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.92 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.19%.

About AvalonBay Communities

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.