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

The real estate investment trust, based in Arlington, Virginia, said it had funds from operations of $390.7 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 $2.71 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 $372.5 million, or $2.61 per share.

The apartment building owner posted revenue of $734.3 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $731.7 million.

For the current quarter ending in December, AvalonBay expects its per-share funds from operations to range from $2.78 to $2.88.

The company expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $10.99 to $11.09 per share.

The company's shares have risen 17% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has increased 20%. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $218.50, a rise of 30% 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