Royal Bank of Canada Has Lowered Expectations for AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Stock Price

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) had its price objective trimmed by Royal Bank of Canada from $234.00 to $233.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

AVB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $227.06.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of AVB opened at $233.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $225.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.97. AvalonBay Communities has a 12-month low of $164.76 and a 12-month high of $236.26.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. The company had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1,877.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 178 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. BROOKFIELD Corp ON bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter worth about $51,000. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.