Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,486,210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 29,255 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.16% of Mid-America Apartment Communities worth $2,857,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MAA. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth about $45,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position 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 worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MAA shares. Mizuho cut their target price on 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.90.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

NYSE:MAA opened at $163.19 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $158.72 and a 200-day moving average of $157.48. The firm has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.73 and a twelve month high of $173.38.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is 135.27%.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Profile

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.