Perpetual Ltd Boosts Stock Position in The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC)

Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in shares of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) by 24.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 10,830 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Macerich were worth $1,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAC. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Macerich by 12,475.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,772,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $214,738,000 after purchasing an additional 11,679,276 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of Macerich by 742.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,695,420 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,924,000 after buying an additional 1,494,145 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Macerich by 399.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,546,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,206,000 after buying an additional 1,236,983 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Macerich by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,433,449 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $372,706,000 after acquiring an additional 688,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in Macerich in the second quarter worth approximately $10,625,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Macerich news, Director Andrea M. Stephen sold 63,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total transaction of $1,303,120.51. Following the sale, the director now owns 83,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,718,832.61. This trade represents a 43.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MAC. Compass Point upped their price target on Macerich from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Macerich from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Macerich from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Macerich from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Macerich in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Macerich presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.30.

Macerich Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MAC opened at $19.91 on Thursday. The Macerich Company has a fifty-two week low of $12.99 and a fifty-two week high of $22.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $20.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.02. The stock has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.90). The firm had revenue of $220.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.54 million. Macerich had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 8.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Macerich Company will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macerich Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. Macerich’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 174.36%.

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.