Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $167.54 and last traded at $167.19, with a volume of 143981 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $164.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MAA shares. Mizuho cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $173.00 to $182.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.46. The company has a market cap of $19.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.91.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. This is a boost from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 135.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,890,000. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 203,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,350,000 after acquiring an additional 5,178 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 180,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,711,000 after acquiring an additional 4,301 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,304,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,484 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,040,000 after purchasing an additional 12,454 shares during the period. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.