Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $156.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.69.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of MAA stock traded up $5.28 on Tuesday, hitting $159.97. 103,004 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 751,359. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $18.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.88. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a 1-year low of $118.72 and a 1-year high of $167.39. The company’s fifty day moving average is $157.59 and its 200 day moving average is $146.74.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($1.20). Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 23.84% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $551.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $548.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 132.73%.

Institutional Investors 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 company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,633,160 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $375,515,000 after purchasing an additional 393,067 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,716,628 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,803,000 after purchasing an additional 97,672 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,644,322 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $234,497,000 after purchasing an additional 44,621 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,444,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $190,086,000 after purchasing an additional 21,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,140,287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $162,616,000 after purchasing an additional 74,936 shares in the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.