Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $725.54 Million Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,441,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 55,448 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 3.19% of AvalonBay Communities worth $725,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 160 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AVB shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $195.67.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $194.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $186.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.85. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.10 and a 12 month high of $205.00. The company has a market capitalization of $27.65 billion, a PE ratio of 28.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.47). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 37.21%.The firm had revenue of $770.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $768.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.83 earnings per share. Analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.78 per share. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is presently 103.19%.

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.