Brokerages Set Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Price Target at $168.76

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $168.76.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.93, for a total transaction of $396,264.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 319,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,949,563.09. This trade represents a 0.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 7,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,142,842 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Mid-America Apartment Communities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MAA. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,636,915 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,025,868,000 after acquiring an additional 2,088,143 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the fourth quarter worth $826,562,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,344,862 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $517,015,000 after purchasing an additional 708,125 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,193,188 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $492,421,000 after purchasing an additional 52,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,656,669 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $410,641,000 after purchasing an additional 40,436 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.60% of the company's stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MAA traded up $3.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $156.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 895,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 737,902. The firm has a market cap of $18.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $161.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.06. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a 1 year low of $125.55 and a 1 year high of $173.38. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $1.19. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 24.03%. Research analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. Mid-America Apartment Communities's dividend payout ratio is presently 135.27%.

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.