Wedbush more bullish on MAA, upgrades to Outperform

As previously reported, Wedbush upgraded MAA (MAA) to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of $154, up from $135. MAA has underperformed Camden Property (CPT) by about 600bps year to date, and the firm expects both to incrementally benefit from the heavy leasing season, ultimately resulting in a pivot to rent growth early in 2025. Although blended rent growth remained slightly negative through April, both expect sequential acceleration to continue from the doldrums of Q1, Wedbush says. The firm believes that barring a meaningful economic or employment disruption, both REITs look on track to produce positive blended rent growth for 2024 even if new rents remain negative — the beauty of low resident turnover.