GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 309 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,606 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,715,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $386,315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,872 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 487.8% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 359,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $74,372,000 after buying an additional 298,322 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter worth approximately $581,960,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,097,971,000 after acquiring an additional 196,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 958.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 172,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,882,000 after acquiring an additional 156,316 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on AVB shares. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays initiated coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $243.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.33.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AVB opened at $219.17 on Monday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.37 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 0.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $226.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.98.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. The firm had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $731.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.03 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.78, for a total transaction of $528,576.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 111,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,051,508.08. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.