Mitchell Capital Management Co. Reduces Stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Mitchell Capital Management Co. decreased its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,657 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 786 shares during the period. Mitchell Capital Management Co.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $4,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sherman Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the fourth quarter worth $102,000. Aew Capital Management L P increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 516.3% during the fourth quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 630,994 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $97,533,000 after buying an additional 528,608 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,670,000 after buying an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 30,757 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,754,000 after buying an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hahn Capital Management LLC increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 54,628 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,444,000 after buying an additional 17,660 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MAA shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $173.00 to $182.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock opened at $168.29 on Friday. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.73 and a twelve month high of $169.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.56, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $154.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.67.

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

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 135.27%.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

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.