Macerich (NYSE:MAC) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Macerich Company (The) (NYSE:MAC) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock from an underweight rating to a neutral rating. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now has a $25.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $23.00. Macerich traded as high as $25.72 and last traded at $25.0250, with a volume of 4155773 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.45.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore set a $22.00 target price on Macerich in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $20.00 price objective on Macerich in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Macerich from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Macerich from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Macerich from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.54.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Macerich by 117.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,240,478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,345,000 after buying an additional 1,211,091 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new stake in shares of Macerich during the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Macerich by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 162,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,079,000 after acquiring an additional 23,944 shares during the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Macerich during the 1st quarter valued at $8,136,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Macerich by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 307,320 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,808,000 after acquiring an additional 64,481 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

Macerich Stock Down 3.3%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.01. The company has a market cap of $6.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.34, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 2.10. 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 (NYSE:MAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $241.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $233.06 million. Macerich had a negative net margin of 18.22% and a negative return on equity of 6.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Macerich Company will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macerich Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Macerich’s payout ratio is presently -95.77%.

Macerich Company Profile

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.