Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC Buys New Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 4,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $798,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 4,759 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $968,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,374,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 18,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,837,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research raised AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised AvalonBay Communities to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $196.87.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $184.06 on Wednesday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.10 and a twelve month high of $198.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $187.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.28. The company has a market capitalization of $26.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.76.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.12). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 33.33%.The business had revenue of $777.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $772.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $1.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 116.34%.

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.