Mid-America Apartment Communities’ (MAA) Market Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at JMP Securities

JMP Securities reaffirmed their market outperform rating on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $160.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MAA. StockNews.com cut shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays initiated coverage on Mid-America Apartment Communities in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $173.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.92.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

NYSE:MAA opened at $148.25 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $156.67 and its 200 day moving average is $153.71. The firm has a market cap of $17.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.47, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a 52-week low of $121.51 and a 52-week high of $167.39.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($1.20). Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 23.84% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $551.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $548.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.88 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.515 dividend. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. This is an increase from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is presently 136.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 252.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company Profile

MAA, an S&P 500 company, is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on delivering full-cycle and superior investment performance for shareholders through the ownership, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment of quality apartment communities primarily in the Southeast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.