Prudent Man Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 151 shares during the quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AVB. Aew Capital Management L P lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 580,376 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $127,665,000 after acquiring an additional 71,380 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 28,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,115 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 19,794 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,354,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Bank OZK lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank OZK now owns 7,962 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at $634,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AVB. Mizuho raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Zelman & Associates raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 1.4 %

AVB opened at $226.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $218.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.43. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.46 and a 12 month high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $1.75 dividend. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 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.