NEOS Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 26.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,962 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,097,971,000 after purchasing an additional 196,938 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,590,539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,009,781,000 after purchasing an additional 27,629 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $914,627,000 after buying an additional 55,588 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,585,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $805,113,000 after buying an additional 27,988 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,266,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $498,606,000 after buying an additional 26,265 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Zelman & Associates upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $213.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.40 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $217.50 and a 200 day moving average of $222.45.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.23%.

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.