Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Plans $1.52 Quarterly Dividend

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 18th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of 1.515 per share by the real estate investment trust on Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%.

Mid-America Apartment Communities has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 16 years. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a dividend payout ratio of 140.0% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Mid-America Apartment Communities to earn $9.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.06 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.7%.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Mid-America Apartment Communities stock traded down $2.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $162.07. 626,600 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 664,903. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $157.15 and a 200 day moving average of $157.46. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a 1-year low of $123.73 and a 1-year high of $173.38. The company has a market capitalization of $18.95 billion, a PE ratio of 36.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $1.19. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 24.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MAA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $148.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mid-America Apartment Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.43.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company Profile

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.