Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Grows Holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,652 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,930 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $2,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 51,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,011,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares during the period. Columbus Macro LLC raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 441.2% during the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 45,085 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,969,000 after purchasing an additional 36,755 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 22,531 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,483,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 4,216 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 4th quarter valued at $158,000. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on MAA shares. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued an “inline” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays reduced their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mid-America Apartment Communities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.80.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Down 0.5 %

MAA stock opened at $158.04 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $153.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.68, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.91. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $121.51 and a one year high of $167.39.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $1.19. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 23.84% and a return on equity of 8.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.89 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. This is a positive change from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 136.79%.

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.