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

Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $231.33.

AVB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays began coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $243.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $219.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. AvalonBay Communities has a 52-week low of $169.37 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $226.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $219.83. The stock has a market cap of $31.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.98.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.03 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.02%.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,367,689.33. This represents a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,715,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $386,315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494,872 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 487.8% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 359,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $74,372,000 after purchasing an additional 298,322 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at $581,960,000. State Street Corp grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,097,971,000 after buying an additional 196,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 958.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 172,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,882,000 after buying an additional 156,316 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.