Macerich (NYSE:MAC) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

Shares of Macerich Company (The) (NYSE:MAC) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 1,944,873 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 11% from the previous session’s volume of 2,174,859 shares.The stock last traded at $21.7190 and had previously closed at $21.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Macerich from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Macerich from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, March 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Macerich from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore set a $22.00 target price on shares of Macerich in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $25.00 target price on shares of Macerich and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.15.

Macerich Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.99.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $241.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Macerich Company will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macerich Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Macerich’s payout ratio is -95.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macerich

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MAC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Macerich by 76.8% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Macerich by 366.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Macerich by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Macerich during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of Macerich by 156.6% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 2,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336 shares in the last quarter. 87.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.