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

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $194.00 to $212.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. AvalonBay Communities traded as high as $202.55 and last traded at $202.55, with a volume of 6431 shares. The stock had previously closed at $201.60.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on AVB. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $197.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $207.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $202.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $205.89.

Institutional Trading of AvalonBay Communities

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AVB. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 270.0% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 50.0% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $28.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $193.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($1.42). The business had revenue of $712.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $706.61 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 8.12%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.57 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.9 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 101.19%.

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.