AvalonBay: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

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

The Arlington, Virginia-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $389.7 million, or $2.74 per share, in the period.

The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $2.73 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 $242 million, or $1.70 per share.

The apartment building owner posted revenue of $704.7 million in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $701.7 million.

For the year, the company reported funds from operations of $1.51 billion, or $10.63 per share. Revenue was reported as $2.77 billion.

For the current quarter ending in March, AvalonBay expects its per-share funds from operations to range from $2.56 to $2.66.

The company expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $10.53 to $11.03 per share.

The company's shares have declined slightly more than 4% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has risen almost 2%. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $179.01, an increase of roughly 1% 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