Macerich (NYSE:MAC) Cut to Underweight at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler lowered shares of Macerich (NYSE:MAC) from a neutral rating to an underweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $11.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $17.00.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on MAC. StockNews.com cut Macerich from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Macerich from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Macerich from a sell rating to a neutral rating and upped their target price for the company from $8.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Macerich in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Macerich presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $14.83.

Macerich Stock Performance

Macerich stock opened at $14.29 on Wednesday. Macerich has a 12-month low of $9.05 and a 12-month high of $17.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 2.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $16.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.67.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.26). Macerich had a negative net margin of 38.96% and a negative return on equity of 13.42%. The business had revenue of $238.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Macerich will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macerich Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Macerich’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -43.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 95,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.94, for a total transaction of $1,609,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 102,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,743,126. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Macerich news, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 7,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.39, for a total transaction of $130,529.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 197,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,243,581. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 95,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.94, for a total transaction of $1,609,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 102,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,743,126. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 172,964 shares of company stock worth $2,940,030 over the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macerich

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Macerich by 152.4% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,166 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Macerich in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Macerich during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Macerich during the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Macerich in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 87.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.