National Pension Service Sells 7,534 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

National Pension Service trimmed its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 191,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,534 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.16% of Mid-America Apartment Communities worth $30,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MAA. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 13.8% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,727 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,886,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 34.4% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 3,859 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the first quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 173.4% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 38,666 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,088,000 after acquiring an additional 24,523 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MAA opened at $154.69 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $157.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $146.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $18.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.88. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.72 and a 1-year high of $167.39.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($1.20). Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 23.84%. The firm had revenue of $551.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $548.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 132.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MAA shares. Wedbush boosted their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $154.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $139.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $161.69.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

MAA, an S&P 500 company, is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on delivering full-cycle and superior investment performance for shareholders through the ownership, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment of quality apartment communities primarily in the Southeast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.