Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Acquires 24,500 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 49.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 74,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,500 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $16,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AVB. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,094 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,679,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of AVB stock opened at $205.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $180.40 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The company has a market cap of $29.24 billion, a PE ratio of 27.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $206.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.40.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.03. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. The company had revenue of $693.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $744.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.70 EPS. Equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AVB. Truist Financial increased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. Zelman & Associates upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $265.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.86.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.