Swedbank AB Sells 35,200 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Swedbank AB trimmed its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,387 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 35,200 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.14% of Mid-America Apartment Communities worth $26,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MAA. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MAA has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

NYSE:MAA opened at $151.78 on Friday. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.51 and a 12-month high of $167.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $154.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.70. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $548.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 136.79%.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

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.