AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $235.07.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AVB shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered AvalonBay Communities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. BMO Capital Markets cut AvalonBay Communities from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $240.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $202.57. 459,737 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 745,957. The company's 50-day moving average price is $204.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.76. AvalonBay Communities has a 1-year low of $180.40 and a 1-year high of $239.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $693.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $744.61 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 38.86%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AvalonBay Communities news, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total transaction of $1,222,708.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,623,288.39. This represents a 25.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.57, for a total transaction of $1,245,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. This represents a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AvalonBay Communities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,672,682 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,866,011,000 after buying an additional 96,790 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter worth about $1,499,050,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,520,036 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,184,712,000 after purchasing an additional 367,853 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,814,430 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $818,653,000 after purchasing an additional 143,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,693,457 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $810,470,000 after buying an additional 107,655 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company's stock.

About AvalonBay Communities

AvalonBay Communities, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the development, acquisition, ownership, and operation of multifamily communities. It operates through the following segments: Same Store, Other Stabilized, and Development or Redevelopment. The Same Store segment refers to the operating communities that were owned and had stabilized occupancy.