Macerich (NYSE:MAC) Upgraded to “Buy” at Jefferies Financial Group

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $23.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $19.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 15.46% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on MAC. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Macerich from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered Macerich from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Compass Point upped their target price on Macerich from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Macerich in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Macerich currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.24.

Macerich Price Performance

Shares of MAC stock opened at $19.92 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.48. Macerich has a one year low of $12.99 and a one year high of $22.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Macerich

In other Macerich news, Director Andrea M. Stephen sold 63,289 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 83,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Macerich by 0.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 275,731 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,029,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Macerich by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 154,082 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,810,000 after acquiring an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Macerich by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 13,448 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 933 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

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.