AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on AVB. BNP Paribas Exane lowered AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $222.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $214.00 price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $205.89.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $182.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.75. AvalonBay Communities has a 12 month low of $166.73 and a 12 month high of $230.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.60.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.81 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $766.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.22 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 38.78% and a return on equity of 9.72%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AVB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,800,375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,639,876,000 after acquiring an additional 127,693 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,537,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,858,788,000 after purchasing an additional 92,467 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter valued at about $1,394,225,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 6.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,215,821 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $814,376,000 after purchasing an additional 249,171 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,875,614 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $785,551,000 after purchasing an additional 57,599 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.