The excitement of investing in a company that can reverse its fortunes is a big draw for some speculators, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can manage to find investors. But the reality is that when a company loses money each year, for long enough, its investors will usually take their share of those losses. A loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the inflow of external capital may dry up.
In contrast to all that, many investors prefer to focus on companies like Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA), which has not only revenues, but also profits. While profit isn’t the sole metric that should be considered when investing, it’s worth recognising businesses that can consistently produce it.
View our latest analysis for Mid-America Apartment Communities
Mid-America Apartment Communities’ Earnings Per Share Are Growing
The market is a voting machine in the short term, but a weighing machine in the long term, so you’d expect share price to follow earnings per share (EPS) outcomes eventually. That makes EPS growth an attractive quality for any company. It certainly is nice to see that Mid-America Apartment Communities has managed to grow EPS by 36% per year over three years. As a general rule, we’d say that if a company can keep up that sort of growth, shareholders will be beaming.
One way to double-check a company’s growth is to look at how its revenue, and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins are changing. The good news is that Mid-America Apartment Communities is growing revenues, and EBIT margins improved by 2.3 percentage points to 27%, over the last year. That’s great to see, on both counts.
In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings and revenue, over time. Click on the chart to see the exact numbers.
NYSE:MAA Earnings and Revenue History July 22nd 2022
You don’t drive with your eyes on the rear-view mirror, so you might be more interested in this free report showing analyst forecasts for Mid-America Apartment Communities’ future profits.
Are Mid-America Apartment Communities Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?
We would not expect to see insiders owning a large percentage of a US$20b company like Mid-America Apartment Communities. But we are reassured by the fact they have invested in the company. Indeed, they have a considerable amount of wealth invested in it, currently valued at US$131m. This comes in at 0.6% of shares in the company, which is a fair amount of a business of this size. This should still be a great incentive for management to maximise shareholder value.
It’s good to see that insiders are invested in the company, but are remuneration levels reasonable? Well, based on the CEO pay, you’d argue that they are indeed. Our analysis has discovered that the median total compensation for the CEOs of companies like Mid-America Apartment Communities, with market caps over US$8.0b, is about US$13m.
The Mid-America Apartment Communities CEO received US$7.7m in compensation for the year ending December 2021. That is actually below the median for CEO’s of similarly sized companies. While the level of CEO compensation shouldn’t be the biggest factor in how the company is viewed, modest remuneration is a positive, because it suggests that the board keeps shareholder interests in mind. It can also be a sign of a culture of integrity, in a broader sense.
Should You Add Mid-America Apartment Communities To Your Watchlist?
You can’t deny that Mid-America Apartment Communities has grown its earnings per share at a very impressive rate. That’s attractive. If that’s not enough, consider also that the CEO pay is quite reasonable, and insiders are well-invested alongside other shareholders. The overarching message here is that Mid-America Apartment Communities has underlying strengths that make it worth a look at. We should say that we’ve discovered 3 warning signs for Mid-America Apartment Communities that you should be aware of before investing here.
The beauty of investing is that you can invest in almost any company you want. But if you prefer to focus on stocks that have demonstrated insider buying, here is a list of companies with insider buying in the last three months.
Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.