Scotiabank Cuts Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Price Target to $180.00

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) had its price objective cut by Scotiabank from $194.00 to $180.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

MAA has been the subject of several other research reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $166.00 to $161.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Raymond James lowered Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.76.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:MAA opened at $149.62 on Friday. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a 1 year low of $137.51 and a 1 year high of $173.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.51 billion, a PE ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.04. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 24.03%. The business had revenue of $549.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $551.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is presently 126.25%.

Insider Transactions at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 4,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.24, for a total transaction of $724,473.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 324,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,890,187.04. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.85, for a total value of $28,865.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $502,552.20. The trade was a 5.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,313 shares of company stock valued at $1,171,707. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 107.1% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.