Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $134.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their previous target price of $147.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Friday, October 30th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $140.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mid-America Apartment Communities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $136.82.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MAA opened at $117.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.73 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $119.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.36. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a fifty-two week low of $113.95 and a fifty-two week high of $144.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($1.38). The company had revenue of $560.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $558.07 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 6.89%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.50 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th were paid a $1.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $6.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 185.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Adrian Hill acquired 844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $118.35 per share, for a total transaction of $99,887.40. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 65,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,725,532.95. This represents a 1.31% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MAA. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the second quarter valued at about $1,820,661,000. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 340.9% in the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,740,919 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $204,976,000 after buying an additional 1,346,062 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $175,377,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 15,892.5% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,221,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $169,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $155,052,000. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company Profile

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (MAA) is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates, acquires and develops apartment communities. Its properties offer rental housing and related resident services and amenities. The company focuses primarily on markets across the southeastern and southwestern United States, as well as select Mid-Atlantic locations. Its portfolio includes communities in urban and suburban areas. Headquartered in Germantown, Tennessee, MAA has been led by President and Chief Executive Officer H. Eric Bolton Jr. since 2001.