AvalonBay Communities, Inc. Expected to Post Q1 2026 Earnings of $2.98 Per Share (NYSE:AVB)

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, April 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the real estate investment trust will post earnings of $2.98 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.99. The consensus estimate for AvalonBay Communities’ current full-year earnings is $10.80 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for AvalonBay Communities’ FY2026 earnings at $12.06 EPS.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted 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). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 33.56%. The business had revenue of $704.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $701.67 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on AVB. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $207.00 price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Friday, January 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $196.78.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $188.66 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. AvalonBay Communities has a 52 week low of $160.45 and a 52 week high of $198.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $181.74 and a 200-day moving average of $178.34.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 103.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,330.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 31,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,330.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total value of $323,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,907 shares in the company, valued at $4,054,985.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,271,756,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,496,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $428,778,000 after purchasing an additional 151,995 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,298,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $394,690,000 after purchasing an additional 341,332 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,278,363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $391,286,000 after buying an additional 126,288 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,838,702 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $344,242,000 after buying an additional 25,625 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.