Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Reaches New 1-Year High at $150.56

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $150.56 and last traded at $150.41, with a volume of 7654 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $146.41.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MAA shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $129.50 to $138.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wedbush raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $135.00 to $154.00 in a report on Monday, May 6th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $139.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.59.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a PE ratio of 30.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.40.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($1.01). Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 23.73%. The company had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 123.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MAA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the fourth quarter valued at $713,500,000. Blackstone Inc. lifted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 2,063,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $277,507,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 188.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,451,578 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $195,179,000 after acquiring an additional 949,171 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,444,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $190,086,000 after purchasing an additional 21,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,287,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $173,124,000 after purchasing an additional 35,538 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

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.