USS Investment Management Ltd Decreases Position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

USS Investment Management Ltd lessened its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 32.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 13,790 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $4,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAA. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,876 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the 4th quarter valued at $577,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 43,998 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,424,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other Mid-America Apartment Communities news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.85, for a total transaction of $28,865.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,012 shares in the company, valued at $502,552.20. This represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 4,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.24, for a total transaction of $724,473.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 324,171 shares in the company, valued at $53,890,187.04. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,313 shares of company stock valued at $1,171,707 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

NYSE:MAA opened at $154.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $18.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.77 and a fifty-two week high of $173.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $160.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.26.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 24.03% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The company had revenue of $549.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $551.21 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $1.515 dividend. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is currently 126.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MAA. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mid-America Apartment Communities has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.41.

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.