Is AvalonBay Communities Stock Outperforming the S&P 500?
Arlington, Virginia-based AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (AVB) is a real estate investment trust focused on developing, acquiring, owning and operating multi-family apartment communities. With a market cap of $29.9 billion, AvalonBay operates in markets like the New York metro area, New England, Southern California, and more.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally classified as “large-cap stocks,” AvalonBay Communities fits right into that category, reflecting its substantial size, dominance and influence in the residential REIT industry.
Despite its strengths, AvalonBay has plunged 11.9% from its two-year high of $239.29 touched on Nov. 27, 2024. However, AVB has dipped 2.9% over the past three months, performing slightly better than the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 3.3% decline during the same time frame.
While AVB stock has dropped 8.6% over the past six months, underperforming SPX’s 67 bps dip during the same time frame, it has soared 15.7% over the past 52 weeks, notably outperforming SPX’s 9.6% gains over the past year.
To confirm the bullish trend and recent downturn, AVB traded mostly above its 200-day moving average over the past year until dropping below it in recent weeks. Moreover, the stock has also traded mostly below its 50-day moving average with some fluctuations in recent months.
AvalonBay Communities’ stock dropped 1.1% in the trading session after the release of its mixed Q4 results on Feb. 5. Driven by solid rentals and other income, the company’s overall topline increased by an impressive 5.1% year-over-year to $740.5 million, however, the figure fell marginally short of the Street’s expectations. Meanwhile, driven by disciplined expense management, AvalonBay’s net income to shareholders increased 16.5% year-over-year to $282.1 million and its EPS of $1.98 surpassed the analysts’ estimates by 34.7%. Yet, its core funds from operations (FFO) per share inched up by a modest 2.2% compared to the year-ago quarter to $2.80, missing the consensus estimates by 1.1%.
Nonetheless, AvalonBay has notably outperformed its peer Equity Residential’s (EQR) 9.5% decline over the past six months and 12.1% gains over the past 52 weeks.
Among the 24 analysts covering the AVB stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy.” Its mean price target of $237.97 suggests a 12.9% upside potential from current price levels.
On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.