Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Rating Increased to Outperform at Wedbush

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wedbush from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $154.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust's stock, up from their previous price objective of $135.00. Wedbush's price objective indicates a potential upside of 12.51% from the stock's previous close.

MAA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $128.00 to $129.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Scotiabank raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "sector underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $133.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $136.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a "hold" rating and a $139.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $144.18.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

MAA stock traded up $3.88 during trading on Monday, hitting $136.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,078,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 891,881. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a twelve month low of $115.56 and a twelve month high of $158.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.80. The company's 50-day moving average price is $129.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.49.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,642 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total value of $333,076.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,057,103.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,807 shares of company stock worth $353,955. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 22.2% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 463 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 297 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 511 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 15,212 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,536 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,702,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company Profile

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.