Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Research Coverage Started at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an inline rating and a $155.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on MAA. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $169.00 to $165.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock opened at $148.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.91. 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 52 week low of $121.51 and a 52 week high of $167.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $155.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.60.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($1.20). The firm had revenue of $551.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $548.53 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 23.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is 136.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MAA. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,978 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC grew its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 4,828 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.4% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 6,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA lifted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.1% during the third quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 4,178 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.