Wall Street Zen Downgrades AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) to Sell

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

AVB has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $223.00 to $220.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered AvalonBay Communities from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Barclays raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $227.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $265.00 to $255.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $235.86.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock traded down $1.64 during trading on Friday, hitting $201.64. 471,685 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 742,518. The stock has a market cap of $28.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.13, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $205.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.37. AvalonBay Communities has a twelve month low of $180.40 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51.

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

Insider Activity

In other AvalonBay Communities news, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total value of $1,222,708.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,617 shares in the company, valued at $3,623,288.39. The trade was a 25.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 22,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. The trade was a 20.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.4% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 96,790 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter valued at $1,499,050,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 7.1% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 367,853 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,814,430 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $818,653,000 after purchasing an additional 143,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,693,457 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $810,470,000 after purchasing an additional 107,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company's stock.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.