Mid-America Apartment Communities: We See a Paced Recovery in Sunbelt Fundamentals; Initiating w/ Neutral Rating

Research evidence excerpt

Mid-America Apartment Communities: We See a Paced Recovery in Sunbelt Fundamentals; Initiating w/ Neutral Rating

MAA’s markets, and far fewer new projects are being started. We think the Q3 2.16 2.13 2.19

recovery should unfold in 2H 2026, but we also think demand has pared back from Q4 2.23 2.18 2.28

levels seen a few years ago. As a result, we think the recovery in landlord pricing FY 8.74 8.53 8.76

power will be more paced into 2027. We assume blended rent growth of ~1.4% in

2026 (renewal-led) and a step up to ~3.7% in 2027 as new-lease spreads inflect

positive. This should support a return to low- to mid-single-digit NOI/FFO growth.

External growth is development-tilted, supported by balance sheet flexibility.

MAA’s current posture favors development over “regular-way” acquisitions,

given the math on acquisition cap rates versus MAA’s cost of capital; the

development pipeline is sized in a way we view as manageable relative to

enterprise value and is largely fundable through free cash flow and incremental Contents

debt capacity. While currently focused on development, M&A remains possible Investment Thesis 3

amid further apartment REIT consolidation. Risks to Rating and Price Target 5

Company Description 6

History of the Company 7

Valuations look reasonable, especially compared to the real estate, but Portfolio Summary: Diversified Sunbelt Footprint 8

earnings growth is low. MAA screens cheaply at 15.5x our 2026 Core FFO/share External Growth: Development-Focused for Now,

estimate and a 6.1% implied cap rate versus the peer group (16.6x and 5.7% implied but Historically M&A Oriented 14

cap), and the ~4.6% dividend yield adds to total return support. The discount Balance Sheet: Low-Leverage, Flexible Balance

Sheet w/ Strong Credit Rating 16