Macerich Company (The) (NYSE:MAC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Macerich Company (The) (NYSE:MAC) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.5385.

MAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore set a $22.00 target price on shares of Macerich in a report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Macerich from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $27.00 in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp set a $25.00 target price on shares of Macerich and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Macerich from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Macerich from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th.

Macerich Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of Macerich stock opened at $23.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. Macerich has a 52-week low of $15.48 and a 52-week high of $23.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 2.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $21.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.56.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. Macerich had a negative net margin of 18.22% and a negative return on equity of 6.95%. The firm had revenue of $241.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $233.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Macerich will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Macerich Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Macerich’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -95.77%.

Institutional Trading of Macerich

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAC. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Macerich by 20.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 77,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 13,018 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Macerich by 2.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,808 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $640,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Macerich by 10.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 148,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,551,000 after purchasing an additional 13,782 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Macerich by 376.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 906,843 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,570,000 after purchasing an additional 716,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Macerich by 12.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 2,983 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

About Macerich

The Macerich Company (NYSE: MAC) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in the acquisition, development, ownership and management of regional shopping centers in the United States. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the company focuses on high-quality retail properties, including enclosed malls, open-air centers and mixed-use lifestyle destinations. Since its establishment as a REIT in 1994, Macerich has pursued a disciplined strategy of investing in properties that serve strong consumer demographics and offer long-term growth potential.

Macerich’s core activities encompass property and asset management, leasing, marketing and redevelopment services.