AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Price Target Lowered to $228.00 at Barclays

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) had its price target cut by Barclays from $241.00 to $228.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AVB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $212.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $227.57.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $186.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.86. 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 1 year low of $180.40 and a 1 year high of $239.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $200.46 and its 200 day moving average is $206.94.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $689.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.08 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 38.91% and a return on equity of 9.70%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.21%.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.57, for a total value of $1,245,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. This trade represents a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total transaction of $1,222,708.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,617 shares in the company, valued at $3,623,288.39. The trade was a 25.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,153,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 8,453 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,859,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 11,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,441,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,359 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,027 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.