AvalonBay Communities' (AVB) Neutral Rating Reiterated at Mizuho

Key Points

• Mizuho restated AvalonBay Communities' stock rating as "neutral" and lowered its price target from $213.00 to $199.00, suggesting a potential upside of only 4.13%.
• Several other analysts have adjusted their price targets for AvalonBay, with the consensus rating being "Hold" and an average target price of $226.36.
• AvalonBay Communities reported a quarterly EPS of $2.82, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.80, although revenue fell short at $689.90 million.

Mizuho reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $199.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust's stock, down from their previous price objective of $213.00.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $241.00 to $228.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price target (down previously from $255.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $212.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $225.64.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $190.19. The stock had a trading volume of 767,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 917,636. The stock's 50 day moving average is $199.66 and its 200 day moving average is $206.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.42, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.86. AvalonBay Communities has a twelve month low of $180.40 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.02. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 38.91% and a return on equity of 9.70%. The firm had revenue of $689.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $759.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.77 EPS. Equities analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.57, for a total transaction of $1,245,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,782 shares in the company, valued at $4,728,859.74. This represents a 20.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 17,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,623,288.39. This trade represents a 25.23% 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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVB. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth $35,153,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 11,100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,441,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,027 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth $899,000. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.