Freedom Investment Management Inc. Has $525,000 Holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,978 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 11,220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,704,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 4,828 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MAA. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $159.50 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 4,358 shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.24, for a total transaction of $724,473.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 324,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,890,187.04. The trade was a 1.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,140 shares of company stock worth $1,142,842. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Mid-America Apartment Communities stock opened at $156.98 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $161.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.06. The firm has a market cap of $18.35 billion, a PE ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $125.55 and a one year high of $173.38.

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

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is presently 135.27%.

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.