GERMANTOWN, Tenn. (AP) _ Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. (MAA) on Wednesday reported a key measure of profitability in its fourth quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

The Germantown, Tennessee-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $198.2 million, or $1.68 per share, in the period.

The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $1.63 per share.

Funds from operations is a closely watched measure in the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.

The company said it had net income of $148.7 million, or $1.30 per share.

The real estate investment trust posted revenue of $416.8 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $416 million.

For the year, the company reported funds from operations of $773.2 million, or $6.55 per share. Revenue was reported as $1.64 billion.

The company's shares have risen nearly 4% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $136.62, an increase of 32% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MAA at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MAA

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News