Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 81,835 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 11,835 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $12,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the period. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1,582.9% during the 4th quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 6,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,484 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,040,000 after acquiring an additional 12,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 189,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,280,000 after acquiring an additional 45,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 51,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,941,000 after acquiring an additional 4,499 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Up 0.8%

MAA opened at $162.96 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.38, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80. 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 $176.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $161.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.84.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.04. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 24.03%. The firm had revenue of $549.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $551.21 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on 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. Scotiabank raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $173.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mid-America Apartment Communities news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.93, for a total transaction of $396,264.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 319,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,949,563.09. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $502,552.20. The trade was a 5.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,313 shares of company stock worth $1,171,707 in the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Profile

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.