Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Stock Price

Key Points

• Barclays has reduced its price target for AvalonBay Communities from $241.00 to $228.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating, which suggests a potential upside of 22.63% from the current stock price.
• Despite modest earnings growth, AvalonBay reported a revenue of $689.90 million, falling short of analyst expectations of $759.08 million, while its earnings per share were $2.82, slightly above the consensus estimate.
• Institutional investors own a significant portion of AvalonBay, totaling 92.61% of the company's stock, highlighting strong interest from financial institutions in this real estate investment trust.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Barclays from $241.00 to $228.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Barclays's price target would indicate a potential upside of 22.63% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. 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 report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank lowered 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 research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, UBS Group decreased 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $227.57.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $185.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $200.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. AvalonBay Communities has a twelve month low of $180.40 and a twelve month high of $239.29.

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

Insider Activity

In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,728,859.74. This represents a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,222,708.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,617 shares in the company, valued at $3,623,288.39. This trade represents a 25.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,153,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 8,453 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,859,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 5.2% during the fourth 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 increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 9.4% during the fourth 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. Finally, Mariner LLC increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 8.4% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company's stock.

About AvalonBay Communities

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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