Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Stock Price

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Barclays from $243.00 to $230.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 7.62% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on AVB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.60.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of AVB stock opened at $213.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $223.59 and its 200 day moving average is $220.99. AvalonBay Communities has a 12-month low of $169.37 and a 12-month high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $731.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.66 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 2,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.78, for a total transaction of $528,576.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 111,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,051,508.08. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AVB. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 38.6% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter worth $51,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 179 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 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.