AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Earns "Equal Weight" Rating from Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays reiterated its "equal weight" rating on AvalonBay Communities and raised its price target slightly to $205 from $203, implying about 5.3% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious overall: among recent reports, most firms rate AVB as Hold/Neutral, and MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Hold with a consensus price target of $195.80.
• AvalonBay shares were up 1.5% to $194.65, and the company recently reported Q1 earnings of $2.33 EPS, which missed estimates, though revenue came in roughly in line with expectations.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating restated by research analysts at Barclays in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $205.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust's stock, up from their prior price objective of $203.00. Barclays's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 5.32% from the company's current price.

AVB has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $189.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $195.80.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 1.5%

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $194.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $27.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company's 50-day moving average price is $186.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.85. AvalonBay Communities has a 52 week low of $160.10 and a 52 week high of $205.00.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $770.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $768.80 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.21% and a return on equity of 9.56%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.83 EPS. On average, analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of AvalonBay Communities

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AVB. Pensionfund PDN purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth about $3,648,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 444,222 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $80,449,000 after buying an additional 17,352 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,237,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter worth approximately $11,058,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,497,047 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $815,360,000 after acquiring an additional 383,983 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

AvalonBay Communities, Inc NYSE: AVB is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, redevelops and manages multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on professionally managed apartment communities, offering a range of rental housing options and related resident services. As a REIT, AvalonBay's core activities center on the acquisition and development of apartment assets and the ongoing operations and leasing of those communities.

AvalonBay's operating activities include ground-up development, strategic redevelopment of existing properties, property and asset management, and on-site leasing and resident services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.