AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) Updates Q2 2024 Earnings Guidance

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) updated its second quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 2.630-2.730 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 2.710. The company issued revenue guidance of -. AvalonBay Communities also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 10.710-11.110 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AVB. Wolfe Research downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised AvalonBay Communities from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $191.50 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Barclays raised AvalonBay Communities from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $194.00 to $204.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $207.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $196.78.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.0 %

AVB traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $191.30. 1,073,207 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 814,883. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $182.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.43. AvalonBay Communities has a 52-week low of $160.45 and a 52-week high of $198.65. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $27.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.92, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.92.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.73 by ($1.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 33.56%. The firm had revenue of $704.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $701.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 103.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the company’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 directly owns 21,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,054,985.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total value of $323,925.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,054,985.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,330.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.