Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Invests $4.68 Million in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 21,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,680,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVB. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $818,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 18.6% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,630 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter worth about $2,368,000. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AVB shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB opened at $209.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.60, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.93. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.40 and a 12 month 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 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 forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.