Wall Street Zen Downgrades AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) to Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded AvalonBay Communities from a "hold" to a "sell" rating, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment regarding the stock's performance.
• Several analysts have adjusted their price targets for AvalonBay Communities, with estimates dropping from as high as $255.00 to as low as $200.00, indicating a cautious outlook.
• Despite recent downgrades, AvalonBay maintains a market capitalization of approximately $27.82 billion and an average consensus rating of "Hold" from equity research analysts.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down previously from $255.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $212.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Truist Financial upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $224.00 to $218.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded AvalonBay Communities from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $228.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $218.08.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB stock opened at $195.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.82 billion, a PE ratio of 24.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.87. AvalonBay Communities has a 52-week low of $180.40 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $194.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.75. 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 (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $689.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 firm posted $2.77 EPS. AvalonBay Communities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.190-11.590 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was 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 approximately $4,728,859.74. The trade was a 20.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,800,375 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,639,876,000 after acquiring an additional 127,693 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,445,499 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,938,326,000 after acquiring an additional 182,952 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,394,225,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,520,036 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,184,712,000 after acquiring an additional 367,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,966,650 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $807,220,000 after acquiring an additional 152,220 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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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