Lazard Asset Management LLC Takes Position in The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC)

Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GRS Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Macerich during the fourth quarter worth approximately $23,097,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Macerich by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 12,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Macerich by 63.8% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 926,459 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,455,000 after purchasing an additional 360,966 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY raised its position in Macerich by 175.8% in the 4th quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 4,675,471 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $93,135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,980,051 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Macerich by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,280,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,351,000 after purchasing an additional 249,592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MAC. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Macerich from $16.70 to $14.40 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Piper Sandler upgraded Macerich from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Macerich from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Macerich from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Macerich from $21.00 to $16.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.95.

Macerich Stock Performance

NYSE:MAC opened at $14.89 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.13. The Macerich Company has a twelve month low of $12.48 and a twelve month high of $22.27.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. Macerich had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 3.15%. The firm had revenue of $249.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $221.61 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Macerich Company will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Macerich Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. Macerich’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -158.14%.

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.