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

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $23.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $19.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 11.98% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on MAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Macerich in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho upgraded Macerich from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Macerich from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of Macerich from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Scotiabank raised 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 research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Macerich currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.24.

Macerich Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MAC opened at $20.54 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.54. Macerich has a twelve month low of $12.99 and a twelve month high of $22.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 52.67, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last released 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). Macerich had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 3.15%. The firm had revenue of $220.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Macerich will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Macerich news, Director Andrea M. Stephen sold 63,289 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $1,718,832.61. This trade represents a 43.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macerich

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MAC. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Macerich by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,433,449 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $372,706,000 after acquiring an additional 688,790 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Macerich by 12,475.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,772,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $214,738,000 after purchasing an additional 11,679,276 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Macerich by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,426,909 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $99,004,000 after purchasing an additional 34,982 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Macerich by 2.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,801,369 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $87,577,000 after purchasing an additional 113,128 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Macerich by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,217,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,675,000 after buying an additional 126,192 shares during the last quarter. 87.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Macerich Company 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.