Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Price Target Raised to $161.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) had its price target boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $158.00 to $161.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

MAA has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank dropped 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 research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays cut their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set an “inline” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.80.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

NYSE MAA opened at $158.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.08. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a fifty-two week low of $121.51 and a fifty-two week high of $167.39.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $1.19. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 24.03%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a $1.515 dividend. This is a boost from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 135.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 100,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,525,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 441,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,298,000 after acquiring an additional 83,926 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,327 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,107,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the operation, acquisition, and development of apartment communities. It operates through the Same Store and Non-Same Store segments. The Same Store Communities segment represents those apartment communities that have been owned and stabilized for at least 12 months as of the first day of the calendar year.