Schnieders Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Schnieders Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 31.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 699 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 1,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.7% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Toroso Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.4% in the third quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 26,102 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,483,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 2,498 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 1.4 %

AvalonBay Communities stock traded up $2.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $191.34. The stock had a trading volume of 886,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 808,686. The company has a market capitalization of $27.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $181.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.34. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $160.45 and a one 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.

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

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AVB shares. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Barclays raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $194.00 to $204.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $201.00 to $197.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $196.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,054,985.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other AvalonBay Communities news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,054,985.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,330.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.