Evercore ISI Raises AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Price Target to $240.00

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) had its price objective lifted by Evercore ISI from $230.00 to $240.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an in-line rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on AVB. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.73.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AVB stock opened at $217.88 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. AvalonBay Communities has a twelve month low of $169.37 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The company has a market cap of $30.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $220.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.47.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 4.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 515.0% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 2,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 3.1% in the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 15,099 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,401,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

AvalonBay Communities, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the development, acquisition, ownership, and operation of multifamily communities. It operates through the following segments: Same Store, Other Stabilized, and Development or Redevelopment. The Same Store segment refers to the operating communities that were owned and had stabilized occupancy.