Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 618,953 Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 618,953 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $95,671,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.53% of Mid-America Apartment Communities at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 33,946 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,247,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,035,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $956,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 45.6% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 62,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,650,000 after acquiring an additional 19,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH grew its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 9,171 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,418,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock opened at $166.31 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $155.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $19.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.12, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.73 and a 1-year high of $173.38.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a $1.515 dividend. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is currently 135.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on MAA shares. StockNews.com upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.00.

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.