Merit Financial Group LLC Takes $577,000 Position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,735 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $577,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 252.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MAA. Mizuho dropped their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.29.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of MAA opened at $147.15 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $121.51 and a fifty-two week high of $167.39. The company has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $155.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.38.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($1.20). Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 23.84% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $551.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $548.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is currently 136.79%.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

MAA, an S&P 500 company, is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on delivering full-cycle and superior investment performance for shareholders through the ownership, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment of quality apartment communities primarily in the Southeast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.