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

Shares of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.30.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Macerich in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on Macerich from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Compass Point upped their target price on Macerich from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho raised shares of Macerich from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $14.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Macerich from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Andrea M. Stephen sold 63,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total value of $1,303,120.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 83,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,718,832.61. This represents a 43.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Macerich by 12,475.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,772,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $214,738,000 after purchasing an additional 11,679,276 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY increased its holdings in Macerich by 742.3% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,695,420 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,924,000 after buying an additional 1,494,145 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Macerich by 399.8% in the third 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 worth $28,206,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236,983 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $372,706,000 after acquiring an additional 688,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. bought a new position in shares of Macerich during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,625,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

Macerich Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MAC stock opened at $19.52 on Thursday. Macerich has a fifty-two week low of $12.99 and a fifty-two week high of $22.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.84. The company has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.05, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $220.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.54 million. Macerich had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 3.15%. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Macerich will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Macerich Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Macerich’s payout ratio is 174.36%.

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.