Verition Fund Management LLC Acquires 821,782 Shares of Macerich Company (The) $MAC

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of Macerich Company (The) (NYSE:MAC) by 536.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 974,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 821,782 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Macerich were worth $17,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Macerich by 2.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,162,075 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $245,322,000 after buying an additional 351,907 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Macerich by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,555,892 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $250,242,000 after buying an additional 2,034,338 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Macerich by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,608,318 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $122,008,000 after buying an additional 70,132 shares during the period. Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Macerich by 149.6% during the fourth quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 6,354,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $117,307,000 after buying an additional 3,808,336 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Macerich by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,039,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $93,030,000 after buying an additional 123,769 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MAC has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $20.00 price target on Macerich in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Macerich from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Macerich from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Macerich from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Macerich from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Macerich currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.69.

Macerich Price Performance

MAC opened at $25.03 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $22.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.92. Macerich Company has a 1 year low of $15.48 and a 1 year high of $25.72. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $6.54 billion, a PE ratio of -35.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 2.10.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $233.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Macerich Company will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macerich Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Macerich’s payout ratio is presently -95.77%.

Macerich Company Profile

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.