Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Takes $309,000 Position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAA. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at about $1,162,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 16.4% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 54,192 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,611,000 after purchasing an additional 7,644 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 5.8% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 29,763 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,729,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 3.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 143,909 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,867,000 after buying an additional 4,618 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.60% of the company’s stock.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

MAA stock opened at $156.98 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.05. The stock has a market cap of $18.35 billion, a PE ratio of 35.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.79. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $125.55 and a one year high of $173.38. 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 (NYSE:MAA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.93, for a total transaction of $396,264.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 319,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,949,563.09. This trade represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 7,140 shares of company stock worth $1,142,842 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MAA. Morgan Stanley raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $173.00 to $182.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mid-America Apartment Communities has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.76.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company 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.