Employees Retirement System of Texas Raises Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,300 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.06% of AvalonBay Communities worth $18,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 6.1% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 71,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,109,000 after purchasing an additional 4,080 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 12.1% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 18,807 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,236,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 76,531 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,239,000 after acquiring an additional 7,195 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $922,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,162,000. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zelman & Associates upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.40.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 6.9 %

Shares of AVB opened at $191.69 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $216.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $221.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.40 and a 1-year high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. Analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.23%.

AvalonBay Communities 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.