Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 356,614 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,312 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $55,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,978 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 4,828 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 6,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA lifted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.1% during the third quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 4,178 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

NYSE:MAA opened at $156.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.08. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $121.51 and a fifty-two week high of $167.39. The firm has a market cap of $18.33 billion, a PE ratio of 35.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $153.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.50.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $1.19. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 24.03% and a return on equity of 8.53%. Equities research analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. 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 135.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities 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.