Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Decreases Position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) by 8.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 425,468 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 39,454 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Mid-America Apartment Communities worth $71,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 107.1% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 176 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 94.9% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 230 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 240 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 93.60% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.85, for a total value of $28,865.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $502,552.20. This trade represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of MAA traded down $0.99 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $151.74. 569,660 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 894,007. The company has a market capitalization of $17.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $138.89 and a 52 week high of $173.38. The company's 50 day moving average is $151.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.17.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.04. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 25.70% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The company had revenue of $549.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $551.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. Mid-America Apartment Communities's dividend payout ratio is currently 126.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $194.00 to $180.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $166.00 to $161.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $149.00 to $142.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $171.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $168.81.

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.