Barclays Cuts Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Price Target to $152.00

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) had its price target lowered by Barclays from $166.00 to $152.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

MAA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. KeyCorp upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho cut their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $173.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mid-America Apartment Communities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock opened at $148.38 on Friday. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a 1 year low of $121.51 and a 1 year high of $167.39. The company has a market cap 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 current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $155.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.39.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($1.20). The company had revenue of $551.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $548.53 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 23.84% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.515 dividend. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. This is a boost from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 136.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

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.