Kentucky Retirement Systems Decreases Stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 5.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 472 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $1,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MAA. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 15,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,702,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 33,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,421,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of MAA stock traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $143.53. 148,899 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 766,823. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $16.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.24. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.56 and a twelve month high of $150.79.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($1.01). Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 25.92%. The firm had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is 123.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $129.50 to $138.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $139.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Wedbush raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $154.00 in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.59.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Profile

MAA, an S&P 500 company, is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on delivering full-cycle and superior investment performance for shareholders through the ownership, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment of quality apartment communities primarily in the Southeast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.