Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 30,447 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 31.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 128,640 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 30,447 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.11% of Mid-America Apartment Communities worth $19,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MAA. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 516.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,074,223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $170,694,000 after buying an additional 899,960 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the fourth quarter worth about $95,671,000. Aew Capital Management L P raised its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 516.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 528,608 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 441,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,298,000 after purchasing an additional 83,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2,378.4% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 84,339 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,401,000 after purchasing an additional 80,936 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MAA shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $173.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.43.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

MAA stock opened at $162.07 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $157.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.95 billion, a PE ratio of 36.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.73 and a fifty-two week high of $173.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 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%. Analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is 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.