Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Has $94.68 Million Stock Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 505,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,500 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $94,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Castleview Partners LLC boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1,542.9% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 53.7% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4,428.6% in the third quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 317 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AVB. Wolfe Research lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Argus upped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.50.

Insider Transactions at AvalonBay Communities

In related news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total transaction of $928,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,330.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other AvalonBay Communities news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total transaction of $323,925.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,054,985.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total value of $928,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,330.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AVB stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $190.62. 157,451 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 809,421. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $27.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $182.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.78. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.45 and a fifty-two week high of $198.65.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($1.42). The firm had revenue of $712.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $706.61 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 8.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.84 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.19%.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.