Piper Sandler Issues Positive Forecast for AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Stock Price

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) had its price target upped by Piper Sandler from $183.00 to $195.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

AVB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $198.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $203.00 price target (down from $208.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $187.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.73.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $182.68 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities has a fifty-two week low of $160.10 and a fifty-two week high of $209.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.10. The company has a market capitalization of $25.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by ($0.47). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.21% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The business had revenue of $770.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $768.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.83 EPS. Analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 44,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,646,000 after acquiring an additional 7,780 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund PDN purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth $3,648,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 216,153 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,754,000 after acquiring an additional 6,511 shares during the last quarter. Sun Life Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sun Life Financial Inc. now owns 161,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,117,000 after acquiring an additional 8,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 444,222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,449,000 after purchasing an additional 17,352 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.