AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Short Interest Update

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,510,000 shares, a decline of 6.8% from the July 31st total of 1,620,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 640,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $225.73 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $32.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $209.44 and its 200 day moving average is $195.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. AvalonBay Communities has a 52-week low of $160.45 and a 52-week high of $226.18.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.93). The business had revenue of $726.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $718.49 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 29.61% and a return on equity of 7.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total value of $414,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at $908,026.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total value of $414,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at $908,026.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total transaction of $1,044,500.00. Following the sale, the executive now owns 65,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,780,506.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delphi Management Inc. MA raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 7.3% in the second quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 8,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 24.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 240.4% in the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 94,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,631,000 after acquiring an additional 67,012 shares during the period. Liberty Mutual Group Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 13.0% in the second quarter. Liberty Mutual Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,490 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,756,000 after acquiring an additional 4,319 shares during the period. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth about $2,115,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AVB. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $222.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $210.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $213.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $214.47.

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.