AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Upgraded by Zelman & Associates to “Outperform” Rating

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) was upgraded by Zelman & Associates from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

AVB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.73.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of AVB stock traded up $1.71 on Thursday, hitting $219.51. 136,342 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 621,944. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities has a one year low of $172.16 and a one year high of $239.29. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $219.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. Equities analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AvalonBay Communities

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,499,050,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,715,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $386,315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,872 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,488,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $547,500,000 after purchasing an additional 828,009 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter worth approximately $581,960,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,097,971,000 after acquiring an additional 196,938 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.