Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $8.45 Million Stock Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 45,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,204 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $8,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,610,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 248,699 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,061 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 994,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $186,191,000 after acquiring an additional 21,760 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter worth about $1,625,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 55.5% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 2,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $201.00 to $197.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $207.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $194.00 to $204.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $191.50 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $196.78.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE AVB opened at $188.66 on Wednesday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.45 and a 1 year high of $198.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.82 billion, a PE ratio of 28.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.34.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.73 by ($1.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 33.56%. The firm had revenue of $704.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $701.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. Analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total transaction of $928,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,330.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total value of $928,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,330.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total transaction of $323,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,054,985.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities 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.