Hartford Investment Management Co. Reduces Holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Hartford Investment Management Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 139 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $1,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 12.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 35,998 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,720,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. grew its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 24,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,916,000 after acquiring an additional 2,192 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 6.4% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,444 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.7% during the third quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 92,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,671,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James upgraded 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. Scotiabank upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $173.00 to $182.00 in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley 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 $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.45.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of MAA opened at $157.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $18.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $153.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.70. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.23 and a 52 week high of $167.39.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. This is a positive change from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.