Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Lifted to “Outperform” at Wedbush

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) was upgraded by analysts at Wedbush from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $154.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price target of $135.00. Wedbush’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.79% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on MAA. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $152.00 to $148.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $149.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $132.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $139.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mid-America Apartment Communities has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.18.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

MAA stock opened at $133.00 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.49. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a fifty-two week low of $115.56 and a fifty-two week high of $158.46.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($1.01). Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 25.92%. The firm had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total transaction of $333,076.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,737 shares in the company, valued at $40,057,103.59. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,807 shares of company stock worth $353,955. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 16.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 51,453 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,619,000 after purchasing an additional 7,284 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 134.8% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 36,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,683,000 after purchasing an additional 20,900 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 36.1% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 13.5% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 62,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,041,000 after acquiring an additional 7,418 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 8.4% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 17,433 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

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.