Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Buys 11,835 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 81,835 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 11,835 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned 0.07% of Mid-America Apartment Communities worth $12,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MAA. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,978 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 11,220 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,168 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 4,828 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MAA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Raymond James lowered shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $169.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,012 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $149.93, for a total transaction of $396,264.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 319,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,949,563.09. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,313 shares of company stock valued at $1,171,707 over the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MAA traded up $2.59 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $160.93. 965,731 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 737,266. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $160.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $157.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $126.77 and a 52 week 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 the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $549.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $551.21 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 24.03% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.25%.

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.