Summit Trail Advisors LLC Takes Position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth about $2,890,000. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 203,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,350,000 after purchasing an additional 5,178 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 180,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,711,000 after purchasing an additional 4,301 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,304,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,484 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,040,000 after purchasing an additional 12,454 shares in the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MAA. Morgan Stanley raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $173.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. 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. Raymond James raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of MAA opened at $155.87 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.51 and a 52-week high of $167.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $153.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.59. The company has a market capitalization of $18.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.91.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. 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%.

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.