Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 57,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $11,853,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 270.0% in the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1,877.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 178 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 38.8% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total transaction of $1,044,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 65,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,780,506.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other AvalonBay Communities news, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total value of $1,044,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 65,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,780,506.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total transaction of $414,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at $908,026.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $210.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $185.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank raised their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $213.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.59.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AVB traded up $2.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $210.46. 394,025 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 726,400. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.45 and a twelve month high of $218.79. The company has a market cap of $29.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $203.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.22.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.93). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 29.61%. The business had revenue of $726.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $718.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. 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.