Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 1,056 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,685 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,056 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $25,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. &PARTNERS bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth $1,538,000. American Assets Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,014,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 63,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,070,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 284.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 146,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,983,000 after buying an additional 108,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 15.3% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,367,689.33. This represents a 21.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $222.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $213.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $228.67.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE:AVB opened at $226.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.98, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $227.15 and a 200 day moving average of $217.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.37 and a 1-year high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. The business had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $731.67 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 93.02%.

About AvalonBay Communities

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.