Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 207 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,427 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 207 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at about $63,000. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

MAA opened at $161.19 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $158.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.43. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.73 and a 1 year high of $173.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Equities analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is currently 135.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MAA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $173.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.