Huntington National Bank Raises Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $7,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AVB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,499,050,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position 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 worth $547,500,000 after buying an additional 828,009 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 196,938 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 valued at $121,927,000 after acquiring an additional 188,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,153,000. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zelman & Associates upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

NYSE:AVB opened at $216.01 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $217.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $222.09. The firm has a market cap of $30.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $177.40 and a one year high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 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%. Research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $1.75 dividend. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 92.23%.

AvalonBay Communities Company 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.