AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Director Sells $5,532,538.59 in Stock

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total value of $5,532,538.59. Following the transaction, the director now owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,367,689.33. The trade was a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.6 %

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $229.41 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.16. The company has a market cap of $32.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.97. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $166.60 and a 52-week high of $236.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. The company had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $731.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. Analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 93.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $419,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 857,241 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $193,094,000 after buying an additional 33,934 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 221,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,984,000 after purchasing an additional 4,019 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 3,005 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kensington Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 11,155 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,513,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AVB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $222.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas started coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $226.88.

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.