AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Price Target Raised to $229.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) had its price target lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $226.00 to $229.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

AVB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley cut AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.33.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $220.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.99. AvalonBay Communities has a one year low of $169.37 and a one year high of $239.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total value of $5,532,538.59. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,367,689.33. This trade represents a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,014,000. West Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 14,180 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 284.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 146,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,983,000 after buying an additional 108,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 46.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 34,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,837,000 after buying an additional 11,064 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

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.