AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Price Target Raised to $229.00

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) had its price objective raised by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $225.00 to $229.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “in-line” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target suggests a potential downside of 0.78% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on AVB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $222.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $207.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.12.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

NYSE AVB opened at $230.79 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.97. AvalonBay Communities has a 1-year low of $160.45 and a 1-year high of $236.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $215.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $200.33.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.93). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 29.61%. The business had revenue of $726.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $718.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the second quarter valued at about $3,701,000. Delphi Management Inc. MA lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 7.3% during the second quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 8,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 24.4% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,778,000 after buying an additional 1,684 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 240.4% during 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 buying an additional 67,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Mutual Group Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 13.0% in the 2nd 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. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.