Macerich (NYSE:MAC) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Macerich (NYSE:MAC) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MAC. Citigroup raised shares of Macerich from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $28.00 in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Macerich from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Macerich from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Macerich from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Macerich from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.00.

Macerich Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Macerich stock opened at $25.81 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $22.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.35, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 2.10. Macerich has a 1-year low of $15.88 and a 1-year high of $25.97.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. Macerich had a negative return on equity of 6.95% and a negative net margin of 18.22%.The company had revenue of $241.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $233.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Macerich will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Macerich Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Macerich’s dividend payout ratio is -95.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macerich

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Macerich by 117.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,240,478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,345,000 after buying an additional 1,211,091 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new position in Macerich in the first quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Macerich by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 162,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,079,000 after buying an additional 23,944 shares in the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Macerich during the first quarter worth about $8,136,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Macerich by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 307,320 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,808,000 after purchasing an additional 64,481 shares during the last quarter. 87.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Macerich

The Macerich Company (NYSE: MAC) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in the acquisition, development, ownership and management of regional shopping centers in the United States. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the company focuses on high-quality retail properties, including enclosed malls, open-air centers and mixed-use lifestyle destinations. Since its establishment as a REIT in 1994, Macerich has pursued a disciplined strategy of investing in properties that serve strong consumer demographics and offer long-term growth potential.

Macerich’s core activities encompass property and asset management, leasing, marketing and redevelopment services.