Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Acquires 132 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 42.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 442 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $97,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,097,971,000 after buying an additional 196,938 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 554,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $121,927,000 after purchasing an additional 188,906 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,153,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at about $23,513,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 314,110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $69,148,000 after purchasing an additional 90,808 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AVB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE:AVB opened at $213.50 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.40 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $217.50 and a 200-day moving average of $222.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.23%.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

AvalonBay Communities, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the development, acquisition, ownership, and operation of multifamily communities. It operates through the following segments: Same Store, Other Stabilized, and Development or Redevelopment. The Same Store segment refers to the operating communities that were owned and had stabilized occupancy.