Bank OZK Grows Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Bank OZK lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,234 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the quarter. Bank OZK’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,610,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 248,699 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,061 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 994,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $186,191,000 after acquiring an additional 21,760 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,625,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 55.5% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 2,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total transaction of $928,250.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other AvalonBay Communities news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total value of $323,925.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,054,985.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,330.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Mizuho reduced their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $207.00 price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $175.00 to $191.50 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $196.78.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AVB traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $191.45. 945,647 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 712,005. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.45 and a twelve month high of $198.65. The company has a market cap of $27.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.64.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by ($1.03). The firm had revenue of $704.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $701.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 34.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.59 EPS. Research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.19%.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.