Griffin Asset Management Inc. Sells 494 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 23.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 494 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAA. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake 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 valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAA has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $169.00 to $165.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of MAA stock opened at $151.28 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.91. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.51 and a 12-month high of $167.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $154.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.77.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by ($1.20). The firm had revenue of $551.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $548.53 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 23.84%. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. This is an increase from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 136.79%.

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.