New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 200 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board trimmed its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVB. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 280,771 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,101,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter worth about $245,000. Portfolio Design Labs LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 22,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,918,000 after acquiring an additional 4,747 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter worth about $309,000. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AVB stock opened at $217.97 on Monday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $172.85 and a 1-year high of $239.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $219.58 and a 200 day moving average of $222.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AVB shares. Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.73.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.