Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 52,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,011 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $8,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MAA. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth about $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MAA shares. 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 on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mid-America Apartment Communities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.90.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of MAA stock opened at $161.19 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $158.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a PE ratio of 35.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.73 and a 52 week 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, beating 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 135.27%.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company 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.