Mechanics Bank Trust Department Buys 160 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,094 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $4,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1,877.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 178 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 50.0% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AVB shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $213.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Zelman & Associates upgraded AvalonBay Communities to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $210.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.88.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE AVB opened at $219.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $31.23 billion, a PE ratio of 37.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.97. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.45 and a 1-year high of $236.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $221.83 and a 200-day moving average of $205.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.93). The company had revenue of $726.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $718.49 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 29.61% and a return on equity of 7.16%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.01 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 115.06%.

Insider Activity

In other AvalonBay Communities news, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total transaction of $1,044,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 65,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,780,506.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other AvalonBay Communities news, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total value of $414,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $908,026.11. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total transaction of $1,044,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 65,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,780,506.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% 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.