KBC Group NV Acquires 108,371 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

KBC Group NV lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 284.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 108,371 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $32,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 0.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,074,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $429,145,000 after buying an additional 13,631 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 14.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 249,400 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 0.5% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,847,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $342,824,000 after purchasing an additional 8,809 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 11.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,183,121 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,776,000 after purchasing an additional 126,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 6.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 521,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $96,781,000 after purchasing an additional 29,953 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 87,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,367,689.33. This trade represents a 21.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AVB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Zelman & Associates raised AvalonBay Communities to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $210.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $226.88.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE AVB opened at $227.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $226.23 and a 200-day moving average of $212.05. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $166.60 and a 12 month high of $236.26. The company has a market cap of $32.42 billion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.97.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 93.02%.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.