ING Groep NV Trims Holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

ING Groep NV reduced its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,928 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 703 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $2,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MAA. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Finally, 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 buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MAA shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MAA opened at $160.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.22. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.23 and a 12 month high of $167.39. The company has a market capitalization of $18.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.86, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.91.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.