The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.30.

MAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded Macerich from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Macerich from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $19.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of Macerich from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Macerich from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Macerich from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th.

Macerich Stock Performance

NYSE:MAC opened at $19.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Macerich has a fifty-two week low of $12.99 and a fifty-two week high of $22.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $20.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.02. The firm has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 51.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 2.51.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.90). The firm had revenue of $220.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.54 million. Macerich had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 3.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Macerich will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Macerich Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Macerich’s payout ratio is presently 174.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Andrea M. Stephen sold 63,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total transaction of $1,303,120.51. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 83,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,718,832.61. This trade represents a 43.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Macerich

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAC. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Macerich by 12,475.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,772,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $214,738,000 after purchasing an additional 11,679,276 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in Macerich by 742.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,695,420 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494,145 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Macerich by 399.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,546,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,206,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236,983 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Macerich by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,433,449 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $372,706,000 after acquiring an additional 688,790 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in shares of Macerich during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,625,000. 87.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Macerich

Macerich is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). As a leading owner, operator and developer of high-quality retail real estate in densely populated and attractive U.S. markets, Macerich’s portfolio is concentrated in California, the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix/Scottsdale, and the Metro New York to Washington, DC corridor.