Virtu Financial LLC Buys Shares of 7,310 Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,162,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 82.4% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 239 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Mid-America Apartment Communities in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $187.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $169.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $156.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.68.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

NYSE:MAA opened at $157.22 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.57. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $121.51 and a 52 week high of $167.39. The stock has a market cap of $18.38 billion, a PE ratio of 35.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.515 dividend. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 132.73%.

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.