Sterling Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 27,946 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $4,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the fourth quarter valued at $826,562,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 26.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the fourth quarter valued at about $95,671,000. Aew Capital Management L P raised its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 516.3% in the fourth quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 630,994 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $97,533,000 after buying an additional 528,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 200.5% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 455,640 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $70,300,000 after buying an additional 304,021 shares in the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MAA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $168.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mid-America Apartment Communities news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.93, for a total value of $396,264.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 319,813 shares in the company, valued at $47,949,563.09. This represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,142,842. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock traded up $3.16 on Friday, hitting $156.98. 895,687 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 738,322. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.01 and a 1 year high of $173.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.35 billion, a PE ratio of 35.04, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.79.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 135.27%.

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.