Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC Sells 111,288 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC cut its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 40.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 165,376 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 111,288 shares during the period. AvalonBay Communities accounts for 2.0% of Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC owned about 0.12% of AvalonBay Communities worth $37,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 5.1% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,044 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 153.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,259,000 after purchasing an additional 10,629 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 151.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 10,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,940,000 after purchasing an additional 6,298 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 56.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,885 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 678 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AVB. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. BNP Paribas started coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $222.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.67.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $230.73 on Tuesday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.37 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $226.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.37. 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 has a market capitalization of $32.82 billion, a PE ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.98.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.03 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 93.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.78, for a total value of $528,576.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 111,436 shares in the company, valued at $26,051,508.08. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.