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

Key Points

• AvalonBay Communities has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from 17 research firms, with 12 analysts recommending hold and 5 recommending buy, while the average 1-year price target is $217.31.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.75, resulting in a 3.7% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 86.21%.
• Institutional investors hold 92.61% of AvalonBay's stock, with significant stakes being increased by firms such as Vanguard Group and State Street Corp in the second quarter.

Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $217.3077.

Several research firms have recently commented on AVB. Wall Street Zen cut AvalonBay Communities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $214.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Morgan Stanley raised AvalonBay Communities from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $228.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $213.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $205.00 target price for the company.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,800,375 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,639,876,000 after purchasing an additional 127,693 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,445,499 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,938,326,000 after purchasing an additional 182,952 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the second quarter worth $1,394,225,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 7.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,520,036 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,184,712,000 after purchasing an additional 367,853 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.0% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,966,650 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $807,220,000 after purchasing an additional 152,220 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.2%

AVB stock opened at $189.43 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $191.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.99. AvalonBay Communities has a fifty-two week low of $180.40 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.02. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 38.91%.The firm had revenue of $689.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $759.08 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.77 EPS. AvalonBay Communities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.190-11.590 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS. Analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.21%.

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.

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