Raymond James Financial Downgrades Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) to Market Perform

Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports.

MAA has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $194.00 to $180.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 13th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $169.76.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE MAA traded down $0.97 on Tuesday, reaching $149.19. 1,312,692 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 892,474. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The business's fifty day moving average price is $156.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.78. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a fifty-two week low of $137.51 and a fifty-two week high of $173.38.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $549.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $551.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. Mid-America Apartment Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 approximately $502,552.20. This trade represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 319,813 shares in the company, valued at $47,949,563.09. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,313 shares of company stock valued at $1,171,707 in the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mid-America Apartment Communities

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.6% in 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 last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,507 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 3,875 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 16,134 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,494,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is currently 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.