Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Shares Purchased by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 92,897 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $14,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,731,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,228,569,000 after buying an additional 65,696 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,141,138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $497,624,000 after acquiring an additional 48,168 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,355,585 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $215,402,000 after purchasing an additional 39,123 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 516.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,074,223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $170,694,000 after purchasing an additional 899,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 346,676 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Down 0.5 %

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

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 23.84%. As a group, research analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. This is a positive change from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is 136.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MAA. Mizuho dropped their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.80.

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.