BMO Capital Markets Lowers Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Price Target to $155.00

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) had its price objective lowered by BMO Capital Markets from $157.00 to $155.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank reduced 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 report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.29.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock opened at $146.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $155.33 and its 200 day moving average is $154.33. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a one year low of $121.51 and a one year high of $167.39.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $548.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. This is a positive change from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 136.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vert Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 51,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,941,000 after buying an additional 4,499 shares during the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 2,914 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,489,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,309 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company Profile

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.