AvalonBay: 3Q Earnings Snapshot

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) _ AvalonBay Communities Inc. (AVB) on Monday reported a key measure of profitability in its third quarter. The results topped Wall Street expectations.

The real estate investment trust, based in Arlington, Virginia, said it had funds from operations of $315.4 million, or $2.28 per share, in the period.

The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $2.26 per share.

Funds from operations is a closely watched measure in the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.

The company said it had net income of $192.5 million, or $1.39 per share.

The apartment building owner posted revenue of $576 million in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $574.3 million.

For the current quarter ending in December, AvalonBay expects its per-share funds from operations to range from $2.27 to $2.35. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had forecast adjusted FFO per share of $2.31.

The company expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $8.96 to $9.04 per share.

The company's shares have fallen slightly since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has declined 1 percent. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $178.24, a fall of roughly 2 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on AVB at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AVB