AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB Shares Purchased by Groupe la Francaise

Groupe la Francaise increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 22.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,826 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $5,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter worth $55,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 10.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,204,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $360,075,000 after purchasing an additional 215,559 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 10,043 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 24.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 633,842 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $103,538,000 after purchasing an additional 123,330 shares during the period. Finally, Adelante Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.3% in the first quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 325,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,117,000 after acquiring an additional 7,271 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AVB shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $196.80.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 1.0%

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $185.82 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.10 and a 12 month high of $198.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $26.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.77.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $777.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $772.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $1.78 dividend. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.34%.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

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.