Piper Sandler Lowers Macerich (NYSE:MAC) to Underweight

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

MAC has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com lowered Macerich from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial reissued a hold rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Macerich in a research note on Monday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Macerich from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised Macerich from a sell rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price target for the company from $8.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Macerich presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $14.83.

Macerich Price Performance

MAC stock opened at $14.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.64. Macerich has a 52 week low of $9.05 and a 52 week high of $17.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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

Macerich Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Macerich

In other Macerich news, President Edward C. Coppola sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $860,000.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 655,667 shares in the company, valued at $11,277,472.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Macerich news, President Edward C. Coppola sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $860,000.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 655,667 shares in the company, valued at $11,277,472.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 7,964 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.39, for a total value of $130,529.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 197,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,243,581. 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 90 days. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macerich

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Macerich in the third quarter worth $36,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Macerich in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Macerich in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Macerich in the first quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

About Macerich

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.