Brokerages Set AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) PT at $234.53

Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $234.60.

A number of analysts recently commented on AVB shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,367,689.33. This trade represents a 21.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AVB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,014,000. West Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 14,180 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 284.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 146,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,983,000 after purchasing an additional 108,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 34,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,837,000 after purchasing an additional 11,064 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AVB stock opened at $214.48 on Thursday. AvalonBay Communities has a fifty-two week low of $169.37 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The stock has a market cap of $30.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.02%.

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.