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

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

MAA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $169.00 to $165.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $173.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of MAA opened at $148.38 on Friday. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a 12-month low of $121.51 and a 12-month high of $167.39. 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 company has a market cap of $17.34 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $155.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.60.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $551.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $548.53 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 23.84% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. This is a boost from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 136.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position 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 valued at $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.4% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 6,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA lifted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.1% in 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 buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company Profile

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.