Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Position Boosted by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 127,506 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,471 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $19,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. lifted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 26,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 322.2% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 9,408 shares in the last quarter. Stonekeep Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 4th quarter valued at $577,000. Institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MAA opened at $150.44 on Tuesday. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $121.51 and a 1-year high of $167.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.96, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $156.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.35.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by ($1.20). The company had revenue of $551.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $548.53 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 23.84%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. This is a positive change from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 136.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MAA. KeyCorp raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note 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 target for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $169.00 to $165.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $173.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.92.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Profile

MAA, an S&P 500 company, is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on delivering full-cycle and superior investment performance for shareholders through the ownership, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment of quality apartment communities primarily in the Southeast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.