Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 27,487 Shares of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC)

Verition Fund Management LLC cut its stake in shares of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,038 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 27,487 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Macerich were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MAC. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Macerich by 152.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Macerich in the second quarter valued at $50,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Macerich by 40.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Macerich in the second quarter valued at $129,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Macerich by 34.8% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 2,161 shares in the last quarter. 87.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Macerich Stock Performance

NYSE MAC opened at $20.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of 53.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.93. The Macerich Company has a 52-week low of $12.99 and a 52-week high of $22.27.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.90). The business had revenue of $220.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.54 million. Macerich had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 8.98%. Macerich’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Macerich Company will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Macerich Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Macerich’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 174.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MAC shares. Mizuho raised shares of Macerich from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Macerich from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Macerich from $13.00 to $14.60 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Compass Point increased their target price on shares of Macerich from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Macerich from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.62.

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.