PGGM Investments Buys 394 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

PGGM Investments increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,076 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 58,579 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,875,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 8,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,880,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 66.8% in the fourth quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 17,277 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,800,000 after purchasing an additional 6,922 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 43,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,472,000 after buying an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 132.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $207.45 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.40 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $218.22 and its 200 day moving average is $223.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $29.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 92.23%.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.