Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys 14,300 Shares of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 118,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,300 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Macerich were worth $2,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Macerich by 32.3% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 359,069 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,549,000 after acquiring an additional 87,611 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Macerich by 851.9% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 30,529 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 27,322 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $30,924,000 after buying an additional 1,494,145 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Macerich by 3.5% during 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 buying an additional 688,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Macerich in the fourth quarter worth approximately $771,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MAC. Morgan Stanley raised Macerich from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank raised shares of Macerich from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of Macerich from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Macerich from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.30.

Macerich Stock Performance

Shares of Macerich stock opened at $20.51 on Friday. The Macerich Company has a one year low of $12.99 and a one year high of $22.27. The company has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 52.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.50. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.56.

Macerich Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Macerich’s payout ratio is currently 174.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 sale, the director now owns 83,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,718,832.61. This represents a 43.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.