Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,760,000 shares, an increase of 29.7% from the January 31st total of 2,900,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 705,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Institutional Trading of Mid-America Apartment Communities

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MAA. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 94.9% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on MAA shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho cut their target price on 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. KeyCorp upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $173.00 to $182.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Down 1.5 %

Mid-America Apartment Communities stock traded down $2.53 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $167.50. 80,047 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 659,327. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a fifty-two week low of $123.73 and a fifty-two week high of $173.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $155.39 and its 200-day moving average is $157.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.39, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.91.

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 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%. On average, analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. 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%.

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.