AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Price Target Cut to $230.00 by Analysts at Barclays

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) had its price target reduced by Barclays from $243.00 to $230.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

AVB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley cut AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.60.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE:AVB opened at $214.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.34, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. AvalonBay Communities has a 1-year low of $169.37 and a 1-year high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.66 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,367,689.33. The trade was a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. 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.