Brokerages Set AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) PT at $235.73

Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $235.47.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Institutional Trading of AvalonBay Communities

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the third quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.7% in the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 1,934 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,094 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

AVB opened at $217.41 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $30.92 billion, a PE ratio of 28.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.78. 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 fifty-two week low of $172.85 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. As a group, equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 89.59%.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.