2,894 Shares in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Acquired by Heritage Trust Co

Heritage Trust Co bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,894 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $637,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in 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 worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,679,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $666,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $192.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.40 and a 1 year high of $239.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $213.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.85. The company has a market cap of $27.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. As a group, analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 92.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AVB. BMO Capital Markets lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Barclays raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.47.

AvalonBay Communities 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.