Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Lowers Stake in The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its position in shares of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) by 66.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 114,423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 228,118 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Macerich were worth $1,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Macerich by 152.4% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,166 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Macerich by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 825,297 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,734,000 after purchasing an additional 82,113 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Macerich by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 88,648 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 6,109 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Macerich by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 254,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,921,000 after purchasing an additional 13,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phocas Financial Corp. grew its holdings in shares of Macerich by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 412,418 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,364,000 after purchasing an additional 141,356 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

Macerich Price Performance

Shares of Macerich stock opened at $15.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $16.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.49. The Macerich Company has a 52 week low of $9.05 and a 52 week high of $17.69.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 10.26% and a negative net margin of 31.00%. The business had revenue of $238.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. Macerich’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Macerich Company will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macerich Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. Macerich’s payout ratio is -53.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MAC shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Macerich from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Macerich in a research note on Monday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Macerich from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Macerich from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $8.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.40.

Insider Transactions at Macerich

In other news, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 7,964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.39, for a total transaction of $130,529.96. Following the sale, the director now owns 197,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,243,581. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 7,964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.39, for a total transaction of $130,529.96. Following the sale, the director now owns 197,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,243,581. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Edward C. Coppola sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.01, for a total transaction of $340,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 635,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,812,695.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,964 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,030 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Macerich 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.