Brokerages Set Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Target Price at $169.00

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $169.09.

MAA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $182.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of MAA stock opened at $163.57 on Friday. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a 52-week low of $126.77 and a 52-week high of $173.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $160.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.08.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.04. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 24.03%. The business had revenue of $549.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $551.21 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.85, for a total value of $28,865.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $502,552.20. This trade represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 4,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.24, for a total value of $724,473.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 324,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,890,187.04. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,313 shares of company stock worth $1,171,707 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mid-America Apartment Communities

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MAA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 4th quarter worth $826,562,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,636,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,025,868,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088,143 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 312.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,226,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $189,507,000 after purchasing an additional 928,851 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 1st quarter worth $150,966,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,344,862 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $517,015,000 after purchasing an additional 708,125 shares in 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.