As part of the strategic move to better mirror the extended operating footprints of the company, which focus primarily on the Sunbelt region of the U.S., Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. (MAA), an apartment-only real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently initiated a new re-branding project.
Moving forward, the company has rechristened itself as MAA — its ticker symbol in the New York Stock Exchange — and has also changed its brand logo.
Since its inception in 1994, Mid-America has evolved as a publicly-owned company from a portfolio of 6,000 apartments in the Mid-South area to a portfolio of 47,000 high-quality apartment homes spread across the Sunbelt region of the U.S. The new brand identity is an effort to display the larger presence of the company and its future growth potential, by striking an optimum balance between its guiding principles and operating capabilities.
Mid-America’s new brand logo portrays a community of individual apartment homes that reflect its unilateral focus on the Sunbelt region, supported by a sunburst in the centre representing its excellent operating platform and its talented workforce. The company also put into force a new website – www.maac.com, featuring enhanced apartment search functions for its customers.
Mid-America divides its portfolio in two tiers — larger primary markets and lower population secondary markets. Secondary markets often have stable fundamentals due to limited new supply. Having a diversified presence in different types of markets helps mitigate risk and decreases volatility in the event of a slowdown in any one product type.
Mid-America’s diversified market profile with its focus on solid employment markets of the Sunbelt region across both the high-growth primary markets and the less cyclical secondary markets provides a stable earnings platform for the company. Furthermore, the company is witnessing a decrease in move-outs due to home purchases, which is a good sign as the battered housing market will continue to benefit residential REITs like Mid-America.
We maintain our Neutral recommendation on Mid-America, which currently has a Zacks #3 Rank that translates into a short-term Hold rating. We also have a Neutral recommendation and a Zacks #3 Rank for UDR, Inc. (UDR), one of the competitors of Mid-America.
MID-AMER APT CM (MAA): Free Stock Analysis Report
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