Morgan Stanley Reiterates Equal Weight Rating for AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB)

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating restated by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $203.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their prior target price of $208.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 26.18% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on AVB. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Colliers Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $195.00 price target (down from $200.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $198.44.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 1.5%

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $160.88 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.75. AvalonBay Communities has a 12 month low of $160.35 and a 12 month high of $216.47. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.20.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $767.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.38 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 34.57% and a return on equity of 8.78%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 11,720,150 shares during the period. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tobam lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 850.2% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 3,012 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,931,000 after purchasing an additional 4,820 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.