Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) to Issue Dividend Increase – $1.52 Per Share

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 10th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of 1.515 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. This is a boost from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47.

Mid-America Apartment Communities has increased its dividend by an average of 11.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a payout ratio of 143.8% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Mid-America Apartment Communities to earn $9.00 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.3%.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE MAA traded up $0.39 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $158.95. 23,859 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 738,479. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a fifty-two week low of $121.51 and a fifty-two week high of $167.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $156.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.30. The firm has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.90.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $548.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.88 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $169.00 to $165.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James raised shares of 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 research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $187.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mid-America Apartment Communities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.68.

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.