Perpetual Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) by 41.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 180,376 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 52,870 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd owned about 0.15% of Mid-America Apartment Communities worth $30,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 4th quarter worth $826,562,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,636,915 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,025,868,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088,143 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 312.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,226,026 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $189,507,000 after purchasing an additional 928,851 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,344,862 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $517,015,000 after purchasing an additional 708,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $95,671,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mid-America Apartment Communities news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.85, for a total transaction of $28,865.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,012 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $502,552.20. This trade represents a 5.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.93, for a total transaction of $396,264.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 319,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,949,563.09. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,313 shares of company stock worth $1,171,707. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MAA opened at $147.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $17.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50-day moving average is $155.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.77. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.51 and a 1-year high of $173.38.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $551.21 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 25.70%. 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 company posted $2.22 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Mid-America Apartment Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MAA. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $194.00 to $180.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $148.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $166.00 to $161.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, JMP Securities upped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $169.76.

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.

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