Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Raises Dividend to $1.52 Per Share

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 10th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of 1.515 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. This is a positive change from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47.

Mid-America Apartment Communities has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a payout ratio of 143.8% indicating that 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 $9.00 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.3%.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MAA traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $158.56. 474,694 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 741,533. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a fifty-two week low of $121.51 and a fifty-two week high of $167.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.12. The firm has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a PE ratio of 35.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.90.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by ($1.20). Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 23.84%. The company had revenue of $551.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $548.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $139.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $169.00 to $165.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $144.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $156.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.68.

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.