Sophron Capital Management L.P. Invests $11.75 Million in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Sophron Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 53,433 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $11,754,000. AvalonBay Communities comprises 4.6% of Sophron Capital Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after acquiring an additional 55,588 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,419,000. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $476,000. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth about $240,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective 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 lifted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $241.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $239.93.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 1.3%

AVB stock opened at $208.31 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $205.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $216.68. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.40 and a 52 week high of $239.29. 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 company has a market cap of $29.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $693.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $744.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.