Macerich (NYSE:MAC) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Macerich Company (The) (NYSE:MAC) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $26.39 and last traded at $26.20, with a volume of 67568 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MAC shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Macerich from $21.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Macerich from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Compass Point reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price target (up from $23.00) on shares of Macerich in a research report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Macerich from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Macerich from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.33.

Macerich Trading Up 1.5%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.43. 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 cap of $7.52 billion, a PE ratio of -37.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 2.06.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. Macerich had a negative net margin of 18.22% and a negative return on equity of 6.95%. The firm had revenue of $241.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $233.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Macerich Company will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macerich Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Macerich

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MAC. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Macerich by 17.0% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 90,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 13,100 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Science Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Macerich during the 2nd quarter worth $1,051,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Macerich by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,056 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Macerich by 117.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,240,478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211,091 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems acquired a new stake in Macerich in the 1st quarter valued at about $219,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

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.