AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $196.9333.

AVB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $203.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $203.00 price target (down from $208.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 18,031.0% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 11,785,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $213,677,000 after purchasing an additional 11,720,150 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter valued at $1,394,635,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,159,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $935,551,000 after purchasing an additional 944,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,497,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $815,360,000 after purchasing an additional 383,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $185.14 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $173.10 and a 200 day moving average of $176.58. The stock has a market cap of $25.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.79. AvalonBay Communities has a 12 month low of $160.10 and a 12 month high of $209.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.47). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.21% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The firm had revenue of $770.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $768.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.