Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Buys 295 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 58,579 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $12,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,094 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.7% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 3.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB stock opened at $209.55 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $218.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.38. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.40 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.81 billion, a PE ratio of 27.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is presently 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.