Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) EVP Timothy Argo Sells 94 Shares of Stock

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) EVP Timothy Argo sold 94 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.24, for a total value of $15,626.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,949,097.60. This trade represents a 0.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Down 2.7 %

MAA stock traded down $4.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $163.51. 1,011,475 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 705,851. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.63. The company has a market capitalization of $19.11 billion, a PE ratio of 36.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.73 and a twelve month high of $173.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 24.03%. On average, research analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 135.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,228,569,000 after purchasing an additional 65,696 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,636,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,025,868,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088,143 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 4th quarter worth $826,562,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,344,862 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $517,015,000 after buying an additional 708,125 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,193,188 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $492,421,000 after acquiring an additional 52,050 shares during the period. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MAA. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of 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. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.