Nordea Investment Management AB Buys 17,352 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 444,222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 17,352 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $80,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 12.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,941 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 20.1% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,708 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,825,000 after purchasing an additional 3,963 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 29,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,993,000 after purchasing an additional 2,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 3,151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on AVB shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Colliers Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price target (down from $200.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $217.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $198.75.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:AVB opened at $163.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $160.72 and a one year high of $217.32. The company has a market cap of $22.84 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $175.46 and a 200-day moving average of $180.90.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $767.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.38 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 34.57% and a return on equity of 8.78%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $1.78 dividend. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 86.94%.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

AvalonBay Communities, Inc (NYSE: AVB) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, redevelops and manages multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on professionally managed apartment communities, offering a range of rental housing options and related resident services. As a REIT, AvalonBay’s core activities center on the acquisition and development of apartment assets and the ongoing operations and leasing of those communities.

AvalonBay’s operating activities include ground-up development, strategic redevelopment of existing properties, property and asset management, and on-site leasing and resident services.