Mizuho Upgrades AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) to Outperform

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) was upgraded by stock analysts at Mizuho from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $242.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior target price of $239.00. Mizuho’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.49% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays assumed coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $243.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.53.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB stock opened at $211.38 on Monday. AvalonBay Communities has a 52-week low of $169.37 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $30.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $225.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.20.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. The business had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $731.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,715,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $386,315,000 after buying an additional 1,494,872 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 487.8% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 359,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $74,372,000 after purchasing an additional 298,322 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter valued at about $581,960,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,097,971,000 after purchasing an additional 196,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 958.9% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 172,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,882,000 after purchasing an additional 156,316 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.