Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Shares Bought by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 17.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,011 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $8,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 516.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,074,223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $170,694,000 after acquiring an additional 899,960 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 4th quarter valued at about $95,671,000. Aew Capital Management L P increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $97,533,000 after purchasing an additional 528,608 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 441,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,298,000 after buying an additional 83,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2,378.4% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 84,339 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,401,000 after buying an additional 80,936 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

MAA opened at $161.19 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $158.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.43. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.73 and a 52-week high of $173.38. The company has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is 135.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MAA. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.90.

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.