Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Raises Stock Holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 36.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,627 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,871 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned 0.05% of Mid-America Apartment Communities worth $9,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MAA. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth about $32,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of MAA stock opened at $161.19 on Friday. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.73 and a 52 week high of $173.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $158.21 and a 200 day moving average of $157.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $1.19. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 24.03%. As a group, research analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is 135.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MAA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.90.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company 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.