AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $223.12.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AVB shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho upped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $185.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $210.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $230.19 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. AvalonBay Communities has a 52 week low of $160.45 and a 52 week high of $236.26. The firm has a market cap of $32.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.97.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.93). The firm had revenue of $726.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $718.49 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 29.61% and a return on equity of 7.16%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 101.19%.

Insider Activity

In other AvalonBay Communities news, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total transaction of $414,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $908,026.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total transaction of $414,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $908,026.11. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total transaction of $1,044,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 65,967 shares in the company, valued at $13,780,506.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. &PARTNERS acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,538,000. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 602,642 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,827,000 after purchasing an additional 18,320 shares during the period. GSI Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. GSI Capital Advisors LLC now owns 50,774 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,506,000 after purchasing an additional 8,925 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 452,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $84,890,000 after purchasing an additional 38,235 shares during the period. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the 1st quarter valued at about $768,000. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.