First Financial Bankshares Inc Invests $8.85 Million in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 45,825 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $8,852,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 62.0% during the second quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter worth $33,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on AVB shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $222.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 9th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $205.00 to $203.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $200.91.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB stock opened at $176.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $178.81 and a 200-day moving average of $183.43. The company has a market cap of $24.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $166.73 and a 12-month high of $230.21.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $767.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.38 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 34.57%.During the same period last year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $1.78 dividend. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.47%.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

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.