AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,470,000 shares, a decrease of 10.4% from the March 15th total of 1,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 804,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB opened at $183.78 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $26.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $180.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.68. AvalonBay Communities has a 12-month low of $160.45 and a 12-month high of $198.65.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by ($1.03). The firm had revenue of $704.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $701.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 33.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is presently 103.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,054,985.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,054,985.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,330.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AvalonBay Communities

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,271,756,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 57.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,140,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $531,516,000 after purchasing an additional 777,631 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,863,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $817,348,000 after purchasing an additional 759,388 shares during the period. Long Pond Capital LP increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 255.8% in the 4th quarter. Long Pond Capital LP now owns 767,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $124,019,000 after purchasing an additional 552,042 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,087,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,711,547,000 after purchasing an additional 531,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays raised AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $194.00 to $204.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised AvalonBay Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $191.50 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $196.78.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.