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

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $196.78.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $175.00 to $191.50 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $206.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $207.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays upgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $194.00 to $204.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 2,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 270.0% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.1% during the first quarter. Sterling Investment Management LLC now owns 9,038 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 3,574 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $663,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Resource Council raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 1,645 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of AVB stock opened at $186.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $26.57 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.22. AvalonBay Communities has a 1 year low of $160.45 and a 1 year high of $198.65.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by ($1.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 33.56%. The company had revenue of $704.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $701.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is presently 103.82%.

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.