Macerich Company (The) (NYSE:MAC) Short Interest Update

Macerich Company (The) (NYSE:MAC) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 25,563,120 shares, an increase of 96.4% from the June 15th total of 13,015,731 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,388,445 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days. Currently, 9.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MAC. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Macerich from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Macerich from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Macerich from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Macerich from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $23.00 to $25.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Macerich from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.14.

Macerich Price Performance

Shares of MAC opened at $25.92 on Friday. Macerich has a one year low of $15.94 and a one year high of $26.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.85 and its 200-day moving average is $21.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 2.06.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $241.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $233.06 million. Macerich had a negative net margin of 18.22% and a negative return on equity of 6.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Macerich will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Macerich Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Macerich’s dividend payout ratio is currently -95.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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 worth $245,322,000 after purchasing an additional 351,907 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Macerich by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,555,892 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $250,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,034,338 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Macerich by 1.1% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 70,132 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Macerich by 149.6% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 3,808,336 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Macerich by 2.5% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 123,769 shares during the period. 87.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.