Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) Upgraded to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MAA. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $182.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $169.50.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of MAA stock traded up $0.80 on Friday, hitting $156.55. 1,329,352 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 752,710. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.14 and a 200 day moving average of $158.15. The stock has a market cap of $18.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a 12 month low of $129.96 and a 12 month high of $173.38.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $549.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 319,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,949,563.09. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.85, for a total value of $28,865.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $502,552.20. This trade represents a 5.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,313 shares of company stock valued at $1,171,707. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,424,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 23.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,792 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $158,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 4,216 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares in the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.