Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $168.81.

MAA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Scotiabank cut 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 report on Friday, June 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th.

Insider Transactions at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other Mid-America Apartment Communities news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.85, for a total transaction of $28,865.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $502,552.20. This represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,636,915 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,025,868,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088,143 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 4th quarter valued at about $826,562,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 26.9% during 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,193,188 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $492,421,000 after purchasing an additional 52,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management US Inc. increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 3,069,507 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $514,081,000 after purchasing an additional 271,507 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company's stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Up 0.0%

MAA traded up $0.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $151.75. 560,418 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 860,699. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The business's 50 day moving average is $151.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.20. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a fifty-two week low of $139.60 and a fifty-two week high of $173.38. The stock has a market cap of $17.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.75.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.04. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 25.70% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The company had revenue of $549.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $551.21 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.515 dividend. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities's payout ratio is 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.