Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 238,962 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 3,101 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $36,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,978 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 4,828 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.4% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 6,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA boosted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.1% in the third quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 4,178 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Up 0.0 %

MAA stock opened at $157.05 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $153.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.70. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $18.36 billion, a PE ratio of 35.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.91.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. This is a positive change from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is presently 135.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $173.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Friday. 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 research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.45.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company 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.