QRG Capital Management Inc. Raises Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 313 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $3,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 196,938 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,590,539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,009,781,000 after purchasing an additional 27,629 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,585,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $805,113,000 after buying an additional 27,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,240,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $504,658,000 after buying an additional 78,800 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $226.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $174.46 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $218.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.43.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AVB. Scotiabank dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.64.

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.