GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Invests $328,000 in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,124 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAA. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 251 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 6.4% in 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. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 9,171 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,418,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank grew its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 93.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Stock Performance

MAA traded down $0.35 on Friday, hitting $155.41. The company had a trading volume of 186,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 747,170. The stock has a market cap of $18.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The company's fifty day moving average price is $159.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.18. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.25 and a 1-year high of $173.38.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $549.30 million during 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%. Mid-America Apartment Communities's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. Mid-America Apartment Communities's payout ratio is 126.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mid-America Apartment Communities

In other Mid-America Apartment Communities news, CEO H Eric Bolton, Jr. sold 2,643 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.93, for a total value of $396,264.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 319,813 shares in the company, valued at $47,949,563.09. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amber Fairbanks sold 173 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $502,552.20. The trade was a 5.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,313 shares of company stock valued at $1,171,707 in the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company 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 for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Raymond James lowered Mid-America Apartment Communities from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $169.50.

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.