Values First Advisors Inc. Invests $202,000 in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 899 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 487.8% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 359,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $74,372,000 after acquiring an additional 298,322 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $581,960,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,980,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $367,534,000 after purchasing an additional 249,400 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4,563.7% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 212,803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,488,000 after purchasing an additional 208,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,256,000. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total transaction of $414,340.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $908,026.11. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total value of $414,340.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $908,026.11. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total transaction of $1,044,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 65,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,780,506.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

AVB stock opened at $229.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.73. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.45 and a 52 week high of $236.26. The stock has a market cap of $32.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.93). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 29.61% and a return on equity of 7.16%. The company had revenue of $726.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $718.49 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on AVB shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $213.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $207.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.88.

About AvalonBay Communities

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.