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

Employees Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 30.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MAA. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth $2,890,000. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.4% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 180,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,711,000 after acquiring an additional 4,301 shares during the period. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1,582.9% in the fourth quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 6,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,484 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,040,000 after purchasing an additional 12,454 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MAA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on 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. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut 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 research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.90.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of MAA stock opened at $153.15 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $161.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.49. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.73 and a 12 month high of $173.38. The firm 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Research analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 135.27%.

Insider Transactions at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 4,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.24, for a total transaction of $724,473.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 324,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,890,187.04. This represents a 1.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company 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.