Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,760,000 shares, an increase of 29.7% from the January 31st total of 2,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 705,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MAA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mid-America Apartment Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth $25,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE MAA traded down $2.54 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $168.38. 924,528 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 659,931. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a 52 week low of $123.73 and a 52 week high of $173.67. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $154.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.82. The company has a market cap of $19.68 billion, a PE ratio of 37.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.91. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. 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.