Bank of America Corp DE Acquires 4,725 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 622,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,725 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $96,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 86,544 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,377,000 after buying an additional 2,205 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 191,435 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,590,000 after buying an additional 23,122 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 149.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 129,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,080,000 after buying an additional 77,858 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 42,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,587,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the fourth quarter worth $699,000. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MAA. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James lifted their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $173.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,012 shares in the company, valued at $502,552.20. The trade was a 5.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of the business’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 value of $396,264.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 319,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,949,563.09. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,313 shares of company stock worth $1,171,707 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of MAA opened at $162.96 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a PE ratio of 36.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $161.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.84. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.77 and a 12-month high of $176.02.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $549.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $551.21 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 24.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were given a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is 126.25%.

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.