The Macerich Company Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.17 (NYSE:MAC)

The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 26th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of 0.17 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th.

Macerich has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 24.0% annually over the last three years. Macerich has a payout ratio of -755.6% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Macerich to earn $1.84 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.0%.

Macerich Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE MAC traded up $0.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $15.67. The stock had a trading volume of 1,111,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,413,158. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of -12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 2.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Macerich has a 12 month low of $9.05 and a 12 month high of $17.69.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.26). Macerich had a negative return on equity of 10.26% and a negative net margin of 31.00%. The company had revenue of $238.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Macerich will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Macerich

In other Macerich news, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 7,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.39, for a total value of $130,529.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 197,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,243,581. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, President Edward C. Coppola sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $860,000.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 655,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,277,472.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 7,964 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.39, for a total value of $130,529.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 197,900 shares in the company, valued at $3,243,581. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 172,964 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,030 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Macerich from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Macerich in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Citigroup upgraded Macerich from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $8.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Macerich from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Macerich currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.40.

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.