AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Plans Dividend Increase – $1.75 Per Share

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 1.75 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70.

AvalonBay Communities has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.3% annually over the last three years. AvalonBay Communities has a payout ratio of 112.6% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect AvalonBay Communities to earn $11.57 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.8%.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 1.6 %

AvalonBay Communities stock traded up $3.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $224.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 578,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,816. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.68, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $221.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.97. AvalonBay Communities has a 52-week low of $169.37 and a 52-week high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVB has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target 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. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley cut AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In related news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total value of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.