Ethic Inc. Purchases 276 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Ethic Inc. increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,603 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $1,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 94.9% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake 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 worth $39,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake 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 worth $50,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 worth $56,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MAA opened at $161.45 on Wednesday. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.77 and a twelve month high of $173.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $160.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.94. The company has a market capitalization of $18.90 billion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80. 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, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.04. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 24.03%. The firm had revenue of $549.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $551.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is presently 126.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $182.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.55.

Insider Transactions at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 319,813 shares in the company, valued at $47,949,563.09. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,313 shares of company stock worth $1,171,707 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities 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.