Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Buys New Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,006 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $441,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares in the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 27.0% in 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 during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 344,139 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $75,701,000 after buying an additional 42,416 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $188.85 on Tuesday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.40 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business has a fifty day moving average of $216.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.27. The stock has a market cap of $26.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced 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, research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.71%. 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 payout ratio is presently 92.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.40.

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.