Groupama Asset Managment Sells 18,322 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Groupama Asset Managment lessened its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 59.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 18,322 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $2,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AVB. Norges Bank bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,499,050,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,488,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $547,500,000 after purchasing an additional 828,009 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,097,971,000 after purchasing an additional 196,938 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 554,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $121,927,000 after purchasing an additional 188,906 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,153,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB stock opened at $214.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $217.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $222.13. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.40 and a 1 year 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.

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%. Equities analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. 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.