KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New $10.20 Million Investment in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 46,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $10,203,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares in the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 14,180 shares during the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 22,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,918,000 after purchasing an additional 4,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 46.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 34,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,837,000 after purchasing an additional 11,064 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AVB shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays reduced 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 report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $214.40 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $217.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.78. The firm has a market cap of $30.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.40 and a 12 month high of $239.29.

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

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.23%.

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.