VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires Shares of 105,370 AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 105,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $19,882,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AVB. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 4,759 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $968,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 2nd quarter worth $1,374,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 18,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,837,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AVB stock opened at $184.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.10 and a 1-year high of $198.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $187.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.12.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $777.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $772.37 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 33.33% and a return on equity of 8.58%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AVB. Jefferies Financial Group raised AvalonBay Communities to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $205.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $196.87.

About AvalonBay Communities

AvalonBay Communities, Inc (NYSE: AVB) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, redevelops and manages multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on professionally managed apartment communities, offering a range of rental housing options and related resident services. As a REIT, AvalonBay’s core activities center on the acquisition and development of apartment assets and the ongoing operations and leasing of those communities.

AvalonBay’s operating activities include ground-up development, strategic redevelopment of existing properties, property and asset management, and on-site leasing and resident services.