Gotham Asset Management LLC Has $4.72 Million Stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Gotham Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,128 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $4,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAA. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1,582.9% in the 4th quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 6,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 189,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,280,000 after acquiring an additional 45,519 shares in the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 51,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,941,000 after acquiring an additional 4,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.6% during the fourth 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 period. 93.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MAA. StockNews.com upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.85, for a total transaction of $28,865.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 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 link. Also, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.93, for a total value of $396,264.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 319,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,949,563.09. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,313 shares of company stock worth $1,171,707 over the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

MAA stock opened at $158.25 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $160.63 and a 200-day moving average of $157.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.77 and a 12 month high of $173.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $549.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $551.21 million. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 24.03% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 126.25%.

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.