Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,993 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 247,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,993 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $46,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $584,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,374,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $205.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered AvalonBay Communities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $196.87.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $184.06 on Friday. The stock 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.10 and a 52-week high of $198.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $188.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.77.

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

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

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

AvalonBay Communities Company 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.