Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Stake Boosted by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,507 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MAA. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,978 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 11,220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 4,828 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 6,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

NYSE MAA opened at $164.20 on Thursday. 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 1 year low of $123.73 and a 1 year high of $167.39. The company has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a PE ratio of 36.65, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $153.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.46.

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

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a $1.515 dividend. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. This is a boost from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 135.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $173.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.00.

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.