Wall Street Zen Upgrades AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) to Hold

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $202.00 to $197.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $205.00 to $203.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $222.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Colliers Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down previously from $200.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $199.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $203.50.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.5%

AVB opened at $177.80 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities has a 1 year low of $166.73 and a 1 year high of $230.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $180.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $25.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.75.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by ($0.06). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 38.78% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The business had revenue of $766.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.22 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AvalonBay Communities

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 2nd quarter worth $1,394,225,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 70.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,593,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $527,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069,793 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 23.2% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,816,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $573,091,000 after buying an additional 530,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PGGM Investments raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 7,782.9% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 478,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $97,470,000 after buying an additional 472,890 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.