AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Earns "Neutral" Rating from Piper Sandler

Key Points

• AvalonBay Communities received a "neutral" rating from Piper Sandler, with a revised price target of $200.00, down from $255.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.49% from its current price.
• Other analysts have varied ratings, with Wall Street Zen upgrading it to "hold" and Barclays adjusting its target slightly up to $241.00, while UBS Group lowered its target from $238.00 to $216.00.
• AvalonBay reported $2.82 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, although its revenue of $689.90 million was below expectations of $759.08 million.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reiterated by Piper Sandler in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $200.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust's stock, down from their previous price objective of $255.00. Piper Sandler's price target suggests a potential upside of 8.49% from the stock's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $240.00 to $241.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $249.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $230.50.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB stock opened at $184.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. AvalonBay Communities has a 52 week low of $180.40 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The firm's fifty day moving average is $202.91 and its 200 day moving average is $208.35. The firm has a market cap of $26.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.86.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $689.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.77 EPS. Research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. This trade represents a 20.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 604,010 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $132,751,000 after purchasing an additional 8,439 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 33.5% in the first quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 23,068 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,951,000 after buying an additional 5,791 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.9% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 48,476 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,404,000 after buying an additional 2,243 shares in the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.0% during the first quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 66,660 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,307,000 after buying an additional 3,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $568,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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