Nomura Holdings Inc. Makes New $2.69 Million Investment in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 17,418 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,692,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 707,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $109,401,000 after buying an additional 200,009 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,886,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 81,835 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,649,000 after acquiring an additional 11,835 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,860,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 76.3% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 20,040 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,098,000 after acquiring an additional 8,673 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE MAA opened at $163.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.77 and a 12 month high of $173.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a PE ratio of 36.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.08.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.04. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 24.03% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business had revenue of $549.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $551.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is 126.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lowered shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,012 shares in the company, valued at $502,552.20. This trade represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 4,358 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.24, for a total transaction of $724,473.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 324,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,890,187.04. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,313 shares of company stock worth $1,171,707 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.