Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) shares 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $170.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MAA shares. Scotiabank upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $173.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target 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 note on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mid-America Apartment Communities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $19.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.82.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. 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 currently 135.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MAA. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,731,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,228,569,000 after acquiring an additional 65,696 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,636,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,025,868,000 after acquiring an additional 2,088,143 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the fourth quarter valued at about $826,562,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,344,862 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $517,015,000 after purchasing an additional 708,125 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,193,188 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $492,421,000 after purchasing an additional 52,050 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.