Certior Financial Group LLC Purchases Shares of 2,257 Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Certior Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at $2,890,000. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,273 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 180,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,711,000 after purchasing an additional 4,301 shares during the period. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,484 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,040,000 after purchasing an additional 12,454 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $173.00 to $182.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mid-America Apartment Communities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.90.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

Shares of MAA stock opened at $153.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $161.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.49. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $123.73 and a one year high of $173.38.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $1.19. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 24.03%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.515 dividend. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s payout ratio is 135.27%.

Insider Activity at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other Mid-America Apartment Communities news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 4,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.24, for a total value of $724,473.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 324,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,890,187.04. This trade represents a 1.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.