StockNews.com Lowers Macerich (NYSE:MAC) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Macerich (NYSE:MAC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reiterated a hold rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Macerich in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Macerich from $12.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Macerich from a sell rating to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the stock from $8.00 to $17.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Macerich from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $14.40.

Macerich Price Performance

Macerich stock opened at $15.29 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.04, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 2.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $16.47 and its 200 day moving average is $14.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Macerich has a 52-week low of $9.05 and a 52-week high of $17.69.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.26). Macerich had a negative net margin of 31.00% and a negative return on equity of 10.26%. The firm had revenue of $238.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Macerich will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macerich Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Macerich’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -53.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 95,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.94, for a total value of $1,609,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 102,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,743,126. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 95,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.94, for a total value of $1,609,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 102,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,743,126. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Edward C. Coppola sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 655,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,277,472.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 172,964 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,030 over the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Macerich

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Macerich by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,478,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $532,000,000 after buying an additional 336,251 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Macerich by 0.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,909,711 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $327,643,000 after buying an additional 224,394 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Macerich by 6.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,327,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $161,476,000 after buying an additional 855,355 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Macerich by 867.8% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,732,108 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $98,411,000 after buying an additional 7,829,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Macerich by 3.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,716,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,194,000 after buying an additional 203,180 shares during the last quarter. 87.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.