AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Stake Lowered by Whittier Trust Co.

Whittier Trust Co. decreased its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,669 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 202 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 19,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,326,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.2% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 201,788 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,453,000 after buying an additional 17,036 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $209.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.40 and a 12 month high of $239.29. The company has a market cap of $29.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.90.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 92.23%.

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.