Xponance Inc. Has $5.70 Million Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,907 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $5,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,097,971,000 after buying an additional 196,938 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,590,539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,009,781,000 after buying an additional 27,629 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $914,627,000 after buying an additional 55,588 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,585,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $805,113,000 after buying an additional 27,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,266,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $498,606,000 after buying an additional 26,265 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AVB shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of AVB opened at $210.66 on Thursday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.40 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The firm has a market cap of $29.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $217.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.23%.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.