AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Updates Q2 Earnings Guidance

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) updated its second quarter earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $2.63-2.73 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $2.70. AvalonBay Communities also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 10.710-11.110 EPS.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.1 %

AVB stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $191.45. The stock had a trading volume of 945,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 712,005. AvalonBay Communities has a one year low of $160.45 and a one year high of $198.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $182.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $27.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.92.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by ($1.03). The business had revenue of $704.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $701.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 34.05% and a return on equity of 8.10%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 10.84 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $185.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Barclays raised AvalonBay Communities from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the stock from $194.00 to $204.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $201.00 to $197.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an overweight rating and set a $207.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $196.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total value of $928,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,330.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total transaction of $323,925.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,054,985.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total value of $928,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,330.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.