Mid-America Apartment Communities Beats Up on Analysts Yet Again

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYS: MAA) reported earnings on Feb. 2. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Mid-America Apartment Communities met expectations on revenue and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded and GAAP earnings per share expanded significantly.

Margins improved across the board.

Revenue details
Mid-America Apartment Communities booked revenue of $117.3 million. The nine analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for revenue of $116.9 million. Sales were 13% higher than the prior-year quarter's $104.3 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.53. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.34 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.49 for Q4 were 145% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.20 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 53.9%, 190 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 24.0%, 180 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 16.0%, 930 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $118.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.33.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $491.0 million. The average EPS estimate is $1.21.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a one-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 48 members out of 75 rating the stock outperform, and 27 members rating it underperform. Among 29 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 16 give Mid-America Apartment Communities a green thumbs-up, and 13 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Mid-America Apartment Communities is outperform, with an average price target of $70.36.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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