Brokerages Set AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Target Price at $238.64

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $238.64.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Institutional Trading of AvalonBay Communities

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVB. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter worth $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1,666.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $209.98 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $217.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $223.21. The stock has a market cap of $29.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. AvalonBay Communities has a 52-week low of $177.40 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 92.23%.

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.