Macerich Co (NYSE:MAC) – Equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group lifted their FY2019 EPS estimates for Macerich in a research note issued to investors on Monday, May 20th, Zacks Investment Research reports. Jefferies Financial Group analyst O. Okusanya now anticipates that the real estate investment trust will post earnings of $3.57 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $3.56. Jefferies Financial Group has a “Hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for Macerich’s Q4 2019 earnings at $1.01 EPS, Q1 2020 earnings at $0.85 EPS, Q3 2020 earnings at $0.93 EPS, Q4 2020 earnings at $1.04 EPS and Q1 2021 earnings at $0.88 EPS.
Several other research analysts have also recently commented on MAC. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Macerich in a report on Thursday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Macerich in a report on Tuesday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank decreased their target price on shares of Macerich from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Co cut shares of Macerich from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $43.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, February 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.
Shares of MAC opened at $36.94 on Wednesday. Macerich has a one year low of $39.41 and a one year high of $60.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.
Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.76). Macerich had a return on equity of 3.75% and a net margin of 10.67%. The firm had revenue of $216.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $206.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MAC. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its position in Macerich by 1,008.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,907,664 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $125,844,000 after acquiring an additional 2,645,377 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Macerich by 9,289.0% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,893,198 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $81,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,034 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Macerich during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,471,000. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC bought a new position in Macerich during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,232,000. Finally, Presima Inc. raised its position in Macerich by 2,819.0% during the fourth quarter. Presima Inc. now owns 998,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,206,000 after acquiring an additional 964,100 shares in the last quarter. 97.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
In related news, SVP Kenneth Volk sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.19, for a total transaction of $210,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,399 shares in the company, valued at $523,113.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hern Thomas E. O acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $40.99 per share, for a total transaction of $409,900.00. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 27,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,925. 1.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Macerich’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.92%.
About Macerich
Macerich, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust, which focuses on the acquisition, leasing, management, development and redevelopment of regional malls throughout the United States. Macerich currently owns 51 million square feet of real estate consisting primarily of interests in 47 regional shopping centers.