Argus Increases AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Price Target to $212.00

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) had its price target upped by equities research analysts at Argus from $188.00 to $212.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Argus’ price target indicates a potential upside of 12.81% from the stock’s current price.

AVB has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wolfe Research cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $191.50 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.50.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $187.93 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $183.39 and its 200-day moving average is $178.93. The stock has a market cap of $26.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.92. AvalonBay Communities has a twelve month low of $160.45 and a twelve month high of $198.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($1.42). The firm had revenue of $712.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $706.61 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 34.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities will post 10.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total transaction of $323,925.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,054,985.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total value of $928,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,330.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total transaction of $323,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,054,985.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. West Coast Financial LLC grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 1,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 24,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,631,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.