AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Price Target Raised to $195.00

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) had its target price raised by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $183.00 to $195.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective points to a potential upside of 5.35% from the company’s previous close.

AVB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $203.00 price target (down from $208.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $203.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.73.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of AVB opened at $185.09 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities has a 52 week low of $160.10 and a 52 week high of $209.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $25.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $175.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.06.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by ($0.47). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 37.21%.The company had revenue of $770.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $768.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Groupe la Francaise increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 22.2% during the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 32,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,239,000 after acquiring an additional 5,826 shares during the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter worth $55,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 10.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,204,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $360,075,000 after acquiring an additional 215,559 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 12.5% during the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 10,043 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 24.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 633,842 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $103,538,000 after acquiring an additional 123,330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.