AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Receives $231.33 Average Target Price from Analysts

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $231.33.

AVB has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BNP Paribas started coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $243.00 price target for the company.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $219.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.98. AvalonBay Communities has a 1 year low of $169.37 and a 1 year high of $239.29. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. The company had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $731.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.03 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.78, for a total transaction of $528,576.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 111,436 shares in the company, valued at $26,051,508.08. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AVB. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth about $70,000. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.