AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $205.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price (down previously from $255.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $236.00 to $226.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 14th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley upgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $228.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.46.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:AVB opened at $190.81 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. AvalonBay Communities has a fifty-two week low of $180.40 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $191.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $200.19. The stock has a market cap of $27.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.86.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.02. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 38.91%.The company had revenue of $689.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.77 EPS. AvalonBay Communities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.190-11.590 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 33.5% during the first quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 23,068 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,951,000 after purchasing an additional 5,791 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 4.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 48,476 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,404,000 after purchasing an additional 2,243 shares during the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 5.0% during the first quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 66,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,307,000 after purchasing an additional 3,199 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.1% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 344,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $73,938,000 after acquiring an additional 28,608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the first quarter worth $1,272,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

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.