Ascent Group LLC Buys Shares of 12,865 AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Ascent Group LLC bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 12,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,898,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1,877.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 178 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AvalonBay Communities

In related news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total value of $5,532,538.59. Following the sale, the director now owns 87,239 shares in the company, valued at $20,367,689.33. The trade was a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AVB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $222.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.67.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AVB opened at $235.35 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $226.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.37. The company has a market capitalization of $33.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.37 and a 1-year high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 93.02%.

AvalonBay Communities 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.