17,981 Shares in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) Acquired by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. bought a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 17,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,422,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 4.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 140,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,116,000 after acquiring an additional 6,024 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $297,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 49,217 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,332,000 after buying an additional 1,351 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC lifted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 30.1% in the third quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 3,445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.3% in the third quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 46,945 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,039,000 after buying an additional 1,052 shares during the period. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,642 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.07, for a total transaction of $333,076.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,737 shares in the company, valued at $40,057,103.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 2,807 shares of company stock worth $353,955 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

NYSE MAA traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $133.20. 351,078 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 695,330. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.56 and a fifty-two week high of $158.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $131.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $129.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($1.01). Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 25.92% and a return on equity of 8.90%. The business had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $541.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 12th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 123.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MAA. Wedbush raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Monday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $149.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $132.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $139.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $129.50 to $138.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.18.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Profile

MAA, an S&P 500 company, is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on delivering full-cycle and superior investment performance for shareholders through the ownership, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment of quality apartment communities primarily in the Southeast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.