Farmers Trust Co. Trims Holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Farmers Trust Co. cut its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 40,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 379 shares during the period. Mid-America Apartment Communities makes up about 1.2% of Farmers Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $6,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 252.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MAA shares. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $173.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. KeyCorp upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $139.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.92.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of MAA stock traded up $0.08 on Wednesday, reaching $148.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 357,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 533,075. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.78. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $121.51 and a 1 year high of $167.39. The company has a market capitalization of $17.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($1.20). Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 23.84%. The company had revenue of $551.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $548.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.515 dividend. This is a positive change from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 136.79%.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

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.