EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 4,102 AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,102 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $774,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,368,659,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 18,031.0% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 11,785,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $213,677,000 after purchasing an additional 11,720,150 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,537,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,858,788,000 after purchasing an additional 92,467 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter worth $1,394,635,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,159,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $935,551,000 after buying an additional 944,129 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

AVB stock opened at $184.06 on Tuesday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.10 and a 52-week high of $198.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.08, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.53.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $777.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $1.78 dividend. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AVB shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered AvalonBay Communities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $205.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded AvalonBay Communities to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.