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

Employees Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) by 30.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,477 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 20,000 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $7,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MAA. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,424,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,309 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,489,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,792 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Finally, IRON Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 2,914 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MAA has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $171.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James downgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $166.00 to $161.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $169.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 4,358 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.24, for a total transaction of $724,473.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 324,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,890,187.04. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.85, for a total value of $28,865.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $502,552.20. This represents a 5.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,313 shares of company stock worth $1,171,707. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE MAA traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $154.78. 885,970 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 749,708. 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 50 day moving average of $159.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.21. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.77 and a 12 month high of $173.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.12 billion, a PE ratio of 34.55, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $549.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $551.21 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 24.03% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Mid-America Apartment Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.25%.

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.