Employees Retirement System of Texas Reduces Holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Employees Retirement System of Texas reduced its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 30.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,477 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 20,000 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $7,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MAA. Certior Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 4th quarter worth $349,000. Unigestion Holding SA raised its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 76.3% during the fourth quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 8,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 20,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,121,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 200.5% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 455,640 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $70,300,000 after purchasing an additional 304,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,012,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Down 6.4 %

Shares of NYSE MAA opened at $153.15 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $161.14 and its 200 day moving average is $157.49. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.73 and a 52 week high of $173.38. The company has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 135.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In related news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 4,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.24, for a total transaction of $724,473.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 324,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,890,187.04. This trade represents a 1.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MAA. KeyCorp raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mid-America Apartment Communities presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.90.

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.