New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,200 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $9,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 516.4% during 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 worth $170,694,000 after acquiring an additional 899,960 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 830.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 125,785 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,987,000 after purchasing an additional 112,271 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2,378.4% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 84,339 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,401,000 after purchasing an additional 80,936 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% in 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 period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 194.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 98,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 64,839 shares during the period. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MAA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock opened at $164.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.41. The stock has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.80, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.91. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.23 and a 12-month high of $167.39.

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

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors 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 yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Mid-America Apartment Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 135.27%.

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.