West Oak Capital LLC Has $2.03 Million Stock Position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

West Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 448.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 10,729 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $2,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter worth $37,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth $45,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 252.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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 report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays began coverage on Mid-America Apartment Communities in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $173.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.92.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of MAA traded down $1.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $148.25. 813,850 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 634,125. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.71. The company has a market cap of $17.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.91. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $121.51 and a twelve month high of $167.39. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($1.20). The business had revenue of $551.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $548.53 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 23.84%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. This is an increase from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 136.79%.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

MAA, an S&P 500 company, is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on delivering full-cycle and superior investment performance for shareholders through the ownership, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment of quality apartment communities primarily in the Southeast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.