AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Purchased by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 2.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 251,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 5,275 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $53,997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter valued at approximately $196,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 1st quarter valued at $2,279,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 3,071.6% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,199 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,194,000 after buying an additional 23,436 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 17,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,826,000 after buying an additional 933 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $241.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $265.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Zelman & Associates upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $223.00 to $220.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $237.86.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $206.40 on Thursday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.40 and a 12-month high of $239.29. The company has a market cap of $29.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86. 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 50 day simple moving average is $203.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.85.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.03. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. The firm had revenue of $693.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $744.61 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.17%.

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.