AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.70

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, September 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of 1.70 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th.

AvalonBay Communities has raised its dividend payment by an average of 1.2% annually over the last three years. AvalonBay Communities has a dividend payout ratio of 121.0% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect AvalonBay Communities to earn $11.55 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.9%.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $225.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The company has a market capitalization of $32.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.52, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.97. AvalonBay Communities has a 1 year low of $160.45 and a 1 year high of $236.26. The company’s fifty day moving average is $219.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.72.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.93). The company had revenue of $726.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $718.49 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 29.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $207.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Zelman & Associates raised shares of AvalonBay Communities to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $222.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total transaction of $414,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $908,026.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CIO Matthew H. Birenbaum sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.90, for a total transaction of $1,044,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 65,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,780,506.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Keri A. Shea sold 2,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.17, for a total transaction of $414,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $908,026.11. 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.