Blue Trust Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 23.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,309 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in 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, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MAA. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $173.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays cut their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $169.00 to $165.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock opened at $152.50 on Friday. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $121.51 and a twelve month high of $167.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $154.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.88.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm 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 EPS. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. This is a boost from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.79%.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Profile

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the operation, acquisition, and development of apartment communities. It operates through the Same Store and Non-Same Store segments. The Same Store Communities segment represents those apartment communities that have been owned and stabilized for at least 12 months as of the first day of the calendar year.