Avanza Fonder AB Makes New Investment in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 9,297 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,437,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth $2,890,000. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 203,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,350,000 after buying an additional 5,178 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.4% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 4,301 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,304,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 6.1% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 156,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,446,000 after acquiring an additional 8,984 shares during the period. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAA has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. KeyCorp raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $173.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $169.00 to $165.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $166.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mid-America Apartment Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.92.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Down 0.1 %

Mid-America Apartment Communities stock opened at $150.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $156.20 and a 200-day moving average of $154.17. The company has a market cap of $17.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.91. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $121.51 and a one year high of $167.39.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($1.20). The firm had revenue of $551.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $548.53 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 23.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 132.73%.

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.