Analysts Set AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Target Price at $235.86

Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the fifteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $235.86.

AVB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $265.00 to $255.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $223.00 to $220.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total transaction of $1,222,708.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,617 shares in the company, valued at $3,623,288.39. The trade was a 25.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.57, for a total value of $1,245,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,782 shares in the company, valued at $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 Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 77.0% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 61,588 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,218,000 after acquiring an additional 26,797 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,969,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 148,961 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,970,000 after purchasing an additional 7,867 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the first quarter worth $725,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the first quarter worth $30,453,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company's stock.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 2.2%

AvalonBay Communities stock traded down $4.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $201.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,483,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 737,345. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $205.62 and a 200-day moving average of $212.16. AvalonBay Communities has a one year low of $180.40 and a one year high of $239.29. The stock has a market cap of $28.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.86.

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

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities's payout ratio is 87.17%.

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.