AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Zelman & Associates upgraded the stock to a hold rating. The company traded as high as $230.31 and last traded at $230.10, with a volume of 651332 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.36.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on AVB. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $222.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $223.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $185.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.94.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth $3,701,000. Delphi Management Inc. MA raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 8,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,778,000 after buying an additional 1,684 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 240.4% during the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 94,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,631,000 after acquiring an additional 67,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Mutual Group Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 13.0% in the second quarter. Liberty Mutual Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,490 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,756,000 after acquiring an additional 4,319 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $32.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $213.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.80.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.93). The business had revenue of $726.04 million for 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.