Summit Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Summit Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 692 shares during the period. Summit Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $1,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MAA. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 12.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 8.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,684 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 7.4% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,352 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 355,437.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 28,443 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,520,000 after buying an additional 28,435 shares during the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of MAA opened at $160.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.23 and a fifty-two week high of $167.39. The company has a market cap of $18.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.86, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $153.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.22.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $1.19. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 24.03% and a return on equity of 8.53%. On average, research analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is 135.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MAA shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.00.

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.