Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 24,407 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,725,605 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,407 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $266,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MAA. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,978 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,233,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 11,220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 4,828 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 4,358 shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.24, for a total value of $724,473.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 324,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,890,187.04. This trade represents a 1.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 7,140 shares of company stock worth $1,142,842 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mid-America Apartment Communities presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.76.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock opened at $154.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $125.55 and a one year high of $173.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.79.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $1.19. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 24.03% and a return on equity of 8.53%. Analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s 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.