UPDATE: Hilliard Lyons Upgrades American Campus Communities to Buy, Reiterates $49 PT on Attractive Entry Point

In a report published Wednesday, Hilliard Lyons analyst Carol L. Kemple upgraded the rating on

from Neutral to Buy, and reiterated the $49.00 price target. In the report, Hilliard Lyons noted, “We are raising our rating on ACC from Neutral to Buy. We believe the current price is an attractive entry point for investors wanting to purchase these high quality shares. In 2012 ACC completed two large portfolio acquisitions. We believe ACC will be able to increase the net operating incomes of these communities. Dividend Increase. On May 2, ACC announced its first quarterly dividend increase since going public. The quarterly per share dividend was raised 6.7% to $0.36 per share from $0.3375 per share. We like the relative recession resiliency of these shares. Most of ACC's communities are near public universities. We believe in tough economic environments, students may decide to go to a state school rather than a more expensive private college. Even during the Great Recession, rents at ACC's legacy properties rose 1.5% for the 2009/2010 academic year.” American Campus Communities closed on Tuesday at $40.37.