Macerich (NYSE:MAC) Raised to “Hold” at Evercore

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Evercore to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Macerich from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Compass Point reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $26.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Macerich in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Macerich from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Macerich from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Macerich to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Macerich currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.14.

Macerich Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:MAC opened at $25.48 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.72. Macerich has a 12-month low of $15.89 and a 12-month high of $25.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.88, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 2.06.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $241.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $233.06 million. Macerich had a negative net margin of 18.22% and a negative return on equity of 6.95%. Macerich’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Macerich will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Macerich

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MAC. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Macerich by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 77,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 13,018 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Macerich by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,808 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $640,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Macerich by 10.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 148,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,551,000 after buying an additional 13,782 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Macerich by 376.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 906,843 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,570,000 after buying an additional 716,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Macerich by 12.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 2,983 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

Macerich Company Profile

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.