Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $167.54 and last traded at $167.19, with a volume of 143981 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $164.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MAA shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mid-America Apartment Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Up 0.8 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a PE ratio of 37.56, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.91.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $1.19. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 24.03% and a return on equity of 8.53%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $1.515 per share. This is an increase from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 135.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 94.9% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company Profile

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.