AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Price Target Cut to $191.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo cut its price target on AvalonBay from $193 to $191 but kept an "overweight" rating, implying roughly a 10.8% upside from the current share price.
• Multiple brokers have trimmed targets recently and, with four Buys and thirteen Holds, the stock carries a consensus "Hold" rating and a consensus target of $196.87.
• AvalonBay shares traded at $172.41 (up 0.6%); the REIT posted a slight quarterly EPS beat ($2.85 vs. $2.84), has a market cap of about $23.98B and ~92.6% institutional ownership.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $193.00 to $191.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.78% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $217.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $183.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $190.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $196.87.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock traded up $1.10 on Thursday, hitting $172.41. The stock had a trading volume of 45,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,078,365. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $171.31 and a 200 day moving average of $177.03. AvalonBay Communities has a twelve month low of $160.10 and a twelve month high of $213.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.75.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.01. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 34.57%.The company had revenue of $767.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Patton Fund Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 1,335 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 24.9% during the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 180,783 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,531,000 after purchasing an additional 36,073 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter worth approximately $1,176,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 46.8% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Finally, Vanderbilt University raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 41.4% during the first quarter. Vanderbilt University now owns 18,328 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,994,000 after purchasing an additional 5,363 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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