Bessemer Group Inc. Purchases 23,465 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 3,319.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,465 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $3,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MAA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the fourth quarter valued at $713,500,000. Blackstone Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 2,063,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $277,507,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 188.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,451,578 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $195,179,000 after buying an additional 949,171 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,287,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $173,124,000 after buying an additional 35,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 96.9% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,220,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $164,085,000 after buying an additional 600,547 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MAA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $129.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wedbush raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Monday, May 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mid-America Apartment Communities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.59.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MAA traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $143.74. 119,198 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 768,009. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $138.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.12. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.56 and a 12 month high of $153.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.85.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $541.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is currently 123.27%.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

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.