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

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eighteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $211.12.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Argus lifted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $185.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $207.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $213.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In related news, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total transaction of $1,044,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 65,967 shares in the company, valued at $13,780,506.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $908,026.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total value of $1,044,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 65,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,780,506.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,271,756,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,759,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $883,098,000 after purchasing an additional 109,585 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,074,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $429,145,000 after purchasing an additional 13,631 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,980,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $367,534,000 after purchasing an additional 249,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,847,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $342,824,000 after purchasing an additional 8,809 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $221.73 on Monday. AvalonBay Communities has a 1-year low of $160.45 and a 1-year high of $221.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $207.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.19. The company has a market cap of $31.53 billion, a PE ratio of 33.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted 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 the consensus estimate of $718.49 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 29.61%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 10.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.