Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 7,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $955,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the third quarter worth $35,000. First Financial Corp IN boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 297 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 36.1% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 22.2% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 463 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MAA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $133.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $132.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $139.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $128.00 to $129.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $149.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.18.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MAA opened at $128.40 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $14.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.80. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.56 and a 12 month high of $158.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $129.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.63.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.93). The business had revenue of $542.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $542.64 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.74% and a net margin of 25.73%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 124.84%.

Insider Transactions at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total transaction of $333,076.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,737 shares in the company, valued at $40,057,103.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,807 shares of company stock worth $353,955. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

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.