Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $168.90.

MAA has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

MAA opened at $164.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a 12-month low of $123.73 and a 12-month high of $173.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.58.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 135.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,978 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,233,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 11,220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 4,828 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

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.