Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Buys 4,104 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 25,398 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,104 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $3,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 187,781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,025,000 after buying an additional 7,092 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 271.3% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 289,188 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,700,000 after acquiring an additional 211,308 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,926,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $826,562,000. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 5,614 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

MAA opened at $165.93 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $19.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.04, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.73 and a 1-year high of $173.38.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its earnings results 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 24.03% and a return on equity of 8.53%. Equities analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 135.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.90.

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.