Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Shares Acquired by Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 57.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $56,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 12.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,822,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 28.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 192,705 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,621,000 after buying an additional 42,491 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth $462,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth $89,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth $215,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MAA. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $173.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.45.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

MAA opened at $157.48 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.15, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.91. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.23 and a 52-week high of $167.39.

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 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a $1.515 dividend. This is an increase from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.