Wall Street Zen Upgrades AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) to Hold

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

AVB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $249.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Scotiabank cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $227.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.86.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of AVB traded down $1.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $206.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,351,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 734,233. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. AvalonBay Communities has a 12-month low of $180.40 and a 12-month high of $239.29. The stock has a market cap of $29.35 billion, a PE ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.86. The company's 50 day moving average is $205.50 and its 200 day moving average is $212.21.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.03. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 38.86% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $693.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $744.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.17%.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In related news, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,782 shares in the company, valued at $4,728,859.74. This trade 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 available at this link. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,617 shares of the company's stock, 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 Trading of AvalonBay Communities

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 77.0% in the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 61,588 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,218,000 after buying an additional 26,797 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.5% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,969,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 5.6% in the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 148,961 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,970,000 after purchasing an additional 7,867 shares during the period. Invst LLC acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter worth approximately $725,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 1st quarter valued at $30,453,000. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.