Triasima Portfolio Management inc. Takes Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 16,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,673,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.1% in the third quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.7% in the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 1,934 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,094 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,367,689.33. This trade represents a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AVB. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.60.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $221.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $220.79 and its 200-day moving average is $221.98. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.37 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. Equities research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.02%.

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.