HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Has $434,000 Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,980 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 84 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AVB. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter valued at about $66,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 312.5% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 442 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AVB. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Zelman & Associates raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of AVB stock opened at $216.01 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.40 and a 1 year high of $239.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $217.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.09. 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 (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 92.23%.

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.