AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Price Target Increased to $196.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) had its target price increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $191.00 to $196.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

AVB has been the topic of several other research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised AvalonBay Communities from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their target price for the company from $175.00 to $191.50 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a sector weight rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Friday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a neutral rating and issued a $191.00 target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a buy rating and a $206.00 price target on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $199.78.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $191.02 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.92. AvalonBay Communities has a 12 month low of $160.45 and a 12 month high of $198.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($1.42). The firm had revenue of $712.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $706.61 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 8.12%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 10.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 101.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total value of $323,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,907 shares in the company, valued at $4,054,985.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total transaction of $928,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,330.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total transaction of $323,925.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,054,985.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 270.0% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 50.0% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1,542.9% in the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 53.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

About AvalonBay Communities

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.