AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $196.80.

A number of analysts have commented on AVB shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Truist Financial upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AVB. B&I Capital AG acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the first quarter valued at approximately $11,194,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,497,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $815,360,000 after buying an additional 383,983 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 940,065 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $170,443,000 after buying an additional 40,216 shares during the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter valued at about $9,474,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,931,000 after acquiring an additional 4,820 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.1%

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $185.82 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $26.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.77. AvalonBay Communities has a 52-week low of $160.10 and a 52-week high of $198.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $187.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.71.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.12). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 33.33%.The firm had revenue of $777.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $772.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.31 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $1.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.34%.

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.