Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Reduces Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,799 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 396 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AVB. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,039 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 18,659 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,908,000 after acquiring an additional 2,522 shares during the period. Bremer Bank National Association lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 7.2% during the first quarter. Bremer Bank National Association now owns 14,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,125,000 after acquiring an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 66.1% during the first quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 4,259 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 7.2% in the first quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 28,438 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,406,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AVB. Mizuho decreased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $265.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $227.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $237.86.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE AVB opened at $206.40 on Thursday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $180.40 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $203.41 and a 200-day moving average of $213.85. The company has a market capitalization of $29.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.03. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. The business had revenue of $693.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 87.17%.

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.