RWA Wealth Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,418 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $4,931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AVB. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at about $302,000. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 27,385 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,024,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,747,000 after purchasing an additional 8,796 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 53,908.6% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 37,806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,316,000 after purchasing an additional 37,736 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,499,050,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on AVB shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $213.50 on Monday. 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 one year low of $177.40 and a one year high of $239.29. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $217.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.39. The stock has a market cap 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.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. On average, analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $1.75 dividend. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is presently 92.23%.

AvalonBay Communities Company 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.