Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 479 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,953 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 479 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 20,202 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 100,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,525,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 23.4% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 441,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,298,000 after buying an additional 83,926 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,327 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of MAA opened at $165.93 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $159.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.52. The stock has a market cap of $19.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $123.73 and a one year high of $173.38.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 24.03%. As a group, research analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.515 dividend. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 135.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MAA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $173.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $148.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.90.

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.