Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 7,608 Shares of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,843 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,608 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Macerich were worth $893,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Macerich by 3.5% during the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,433,449 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $372,706,000 after acquiring an additional 688,790 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Macerich by 12,475.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,772,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $214,738,000 after acquiring an additional 11,679,276 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Macerich by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,426,909 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $99,004,000 after acquiring an additional 34,982 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Macerich by 2.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,801,369 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $87,577,000 after acquiring an additional 113,128 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Macerich by 1.1% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,995,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,642,000 after acquiring an additional 31,586 shares during the period. 87.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Macerich Trading Down 2.5 %

MAC opened at $19.86 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $20.31 and its 200-day moving average is $18.74. The Macerich Company has a 1-year low of $12.99 and a 1-year high of $22.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.50.

Macerich Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Macerich’s payout ratio is currently 174.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrea M. Stephen sold 63,289 shares of Macerich 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 directly owns 83,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,718,832.61. This trade represents a 43.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MAC shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Macerich from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Macerich from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Compass Point increased their price objective on shares of Macerich from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Macerich from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Three investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.30.

Macerich Profile

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.