AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $223.12.

AVB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $207.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Zelman & Associates upgraded AvalonBay Communities to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE AVB opened at $230.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $32.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.25, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.97. AvalonBay Communities has a 1-year low of $160.45 and a 1-year high of $236.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50 day moving average of $218.11 and a 200-day moving average of $201.94.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.93). The company 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $908,026.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total value of $414,340.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $908,026.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total value of $1,044,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 65,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,780,506.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 15,771 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,953,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 3,261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 356,324 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $66,711,000 after purchasing an additional 13,809 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $317,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 13,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,521,000 after buying an additional 2,339 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.