The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.86.

MAC has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho upgraded Macerich from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Macerich from $13.00 to $14.60 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Macerich from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Macerich in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macerich

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MAC. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Macerich by 152.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Macerich in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Macerich by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Macerich in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $129,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Macerich by 34.8% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161 shares during the period. 87.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Macerich Stock Performance

NYSE:MAC opened at $20.26 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $19.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.17. Macerich has a fifty-two week low of $12.99 and a fifty-two week high of $22.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 51.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 2.51. 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 (NYSE:MAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.90). Macerich had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 3.15%. The company had revenue of $220.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Macerich will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macerich Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Macerich’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 174.36%.

Macerich Company Profile

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.