Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $168.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price target of $159.50.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on MAA. Raymond James raised 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. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Friday. They issued an “inline” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $173.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of MAA opened at $148.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $155.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.91. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a one year low of $121.51 and a one year high of $167.39.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by ($1.20). Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 23.84%. The business had revenue of $551.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $548.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 136.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MAA. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,731,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,228,569,000 after acquiring an additional 65,696 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,141,138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $497,624,000 after purchasing an additional 48,168 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,355,585 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $215,402,000 after buying an additional 39,123 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 516.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,074,223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $170,694,000 after buying an additional 899,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Long Pond Capital LP grew its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 550.9% during the second quarter. Long Pond Capital LP now owns 647,011 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $92,270,000 after acquiring an additional 547,607 shares during the period. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.