CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Buys 8,919 Shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 213,072 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 8,919 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned about 0.18% of Mid-America Apartment Communities worth $32,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,978 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,233,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 37.2% during 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 raised its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 11,220 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.6% during 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. Institutional investors own 93.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MAA shares. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $163.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised Mid-America Apartment Communities from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $159.50 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Mid-America Apartment Communities from $157.00 to $155.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mid-America Apartment Communities has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $168.76.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MAA traded up $0.39 during trading on Thursday, reaching $159.91. 182,095 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 872,758. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.69 billion, a PE ratio of 35.69, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.79. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $126.70 and a 52 week high of $173.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company's 50 day moving average is $161.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.09.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA - Get Free Report) 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, sell-side analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. Mid-America Apartment Communities's dividend payout ratio is currently 135.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mid-America Apartment Communities news, 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 transaction of $396,264.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 319,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,949,563.09. The trade was a 0.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 7,140 shares of company stock worth $1,142,842 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.