AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Receives $197.27 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $196.9333.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AVB. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $203.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB stock opened at $180.66 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average of $172.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.51. AvalonBay Communities has a 52 week low of $160.10 and a 52 week high of $209.86. The company has a market cap of $25.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.79.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.47). The business had revenue of $770.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $768.80 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 37.21%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.31 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 18,031.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 11,785,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $213,677,000 after purchasing an additional 11,720,150 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,394,635,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 15,065.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,801,071 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $326,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789,195 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 76.0% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,355,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $455,077,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,286 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,159,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $935,551,000 after purchasing an additional 944,129 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AvalonBay Communities

AvalonBay Communities, Inc (NYSE: AVB) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, redevelops and manages multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on professionally managed apartment communities, offering a range of rental housing options and related resident services. As a REIT, AvalonBay’s core activities center on the acquisition and development of apartment assets and the ongoing operations and leasing of those communities.

AvalonBay’s operating activities include ground-up development, strategic redevelopment of existing properties, property and asset management, and on-site leasing and resident services.