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. Shareholders 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 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a 2.9% increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70.

AvalonBay Communities has increased its dividend by an average of 2.3% annually over the last three years. AvalonBay Communities has a dividend payout ratio of 118.8% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect AvalonBay Communities to earn $12.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.4%.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.2 %

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $213.50 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities has a 12-month low of $177.40 and a 12-month high of $239.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.49.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.