Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 11,489 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 11,489 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $7,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $584,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 10.2% during the second quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 133.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,323 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $880,000 after purchasing an additional 2,471 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 16.2% in the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 105.9% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,676 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 2,919 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:AVB opened at $176.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $178.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.02. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $166.73 and a 52 week high of $230.21.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.01. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 34.57%.The business had revenue of $767.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $1.78 dividend. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 94.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AVB. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $222.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 13th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $214.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $213.00 to $193.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $200.91.

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.