Mizuho Upgrades AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) to “Outperform”

Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Mizuho currently has $242.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price target of $239.00.

AVB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays began coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $243.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.53.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB opened at $212.39 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $30.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.99. AvalonBay Communities has a 12 month low of $169.37 and a 12 month high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. The business had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $731.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.03 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.02%.

Insider Activity

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,367,689.33. This represents a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVB. American Assets Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter valued at about $1,014,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $914,627,000 after buying an additional 55,588 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 63,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,070,000 after acquiring an additional 3,350 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 284.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 146,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,983,000 after acquiring an additional 108,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 46.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 34,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,837,000 after acquiring an additional 11,064 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

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.