AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Price Target Raised to $227.00

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) had its price target upped by Barclays from $226.00 to $227.00 in a report released 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 several other research reports. Morgan Stanley cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.47.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $192.95 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86. AvalonBay Communities has a 52-week low of $177.40 and a 52-week high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 92.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth about $1,499,050,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,152,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,133,328,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336,698 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,590,539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,009,781,000 after purchasing an additional 27,629 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,693,457 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $810,470,000 after buying an additional 107,655 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.