Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 4,540 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,540 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $8,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 70.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,593,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $527,823,000 after buying an additional 1,069,793 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,355,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $455,077,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017,286 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 126.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 555,832 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $107,370,000 after acquiring an additional 310,412 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,215,821 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $814,376,000 after acquiring an additional 249,171 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 732,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $141,558,000 after acquiring an additional 218,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

AVB opened at $165.07 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.43. The company has a market capitalization of $23.12 billion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.75. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.10 and a 1 year high of $216.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $767.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.38 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 34.57%.During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. Research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $1.78 dividend. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on AVB shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $187.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $198.44.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

AvalonBay Communities, Inc (NYSE: AVB) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, redevelops and manages multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on professionally managed apartment communities, offering a range of rental housing options and related resident services. As a REIT, AvalonBay’s core activities center on the acquisition and development of apartment assets and the ongoing operations and leasing of those communities.

AvalonBay’s operating activities include ground-up development, strategic redevelopment of existing properties, property and asset management, and on-site leasing and resident services.