Macerich (NYSE:MAC) Stock Price Up 5.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Macerich's stock (NYSE: MAC) surged by 5.1% following an upgrade from Bank of America, which raised its rating from neutral to buy and increased the price target from $19.00 to $23.00.
• Despite the upgrade, the consensus rating for Macerich remains "Hold" with an average target price of $20.11, as six analysts rated it as a buy, five as hold, and two as sell.
• The real estate investment trust reported a quarterly earnings miss, with EPS at $0.32 compared to the expected $0.34, but revenue grew by 15.9% year-over-year.

Shares of Macerich Company (The) (NYSE:MAC - Get Free Report) shot up 5.1% on Friday after Bank of America upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. Bank of America now has a $23.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $19.00. Macerich traded as high as $17.78 and last traded at $17.61. 573,319 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 1,964,313 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.76.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Macerich from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Macerich from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Macerich from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Mizuho raised Macerich from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Macerich from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Macerich has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.11.

Institutional Trading of Macerich

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in Macerich by 1.4% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 102,139 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Macerich by 1.8% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 186,237 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,013,000 after buying an additional 3,229 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Macerich by 9.3% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 861,310 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,936,000 after buying an additional 73,172 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Macerich by 6.1% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 648,125 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,495,000 after buying an additional 37,404 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Macerich by 3.2% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 29,512 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the period. 87.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Macerich Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 2.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). Macerich had a negative net margin of 41.33% and a negative return on equity of 15.15%. The company had revenue of $249.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Macerich Company will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Macerich Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. Macerich's payout ratio is presently -38.86%.

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.

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