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

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

MAA has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp raised 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. Morgan Stanley raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mid-America Apartment Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Up 0.7 %

MAA opened at $156.92 on Tuesday. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a 1-year low of $123.23 and a 1-year high of $167.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $153.31 and a 200-day moving average of $155.60.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a $1.515 dividend. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. This is a boost from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is currently 135.27%.

Institutional Trading of Mid-America Apartment Communities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAA. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.