Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $173.38 and last traded at $168.38, with a volume of 924528 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $170.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MAA. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, 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 company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mid-America Apartment Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Down 2.0 %

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $155.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.91.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a $1.515 dividend. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is currently 135.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.5% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,683 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 31.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 11.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 54,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,570,000 after purchasing an additional 5,816 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 123.5% during the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 11,218 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 6,198 shares during 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.