Empowered Funds LLC Purchases Shares of 23,378 The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC)

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 23,378 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Macerich by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 51,835 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 13,351 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Macerich by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 266,542 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,310,000 after acquiring an additional 32,842 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Macerich by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 252,822 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,035,000 after acquiring an additional 26,841 shares during the last quarter. Vanderbilt University grew its stake in shares of Macerich by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanderbilt University now owns 61,399 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Macerich by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 93,035 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,853,000 after acquiring an additional 9,077 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MAC. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Macerich from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Macerich from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Macerich in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Macerich from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.30.

Macerich Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE MAC opened at $20.54 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.69. The Macerich Company has a one year low of $12.99 and a one year high of $22.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.50. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Macerich’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 174.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Macerich

In related news, Director Andrea M. Stephen sold 63,289 shares of Macerich stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total transaction of $1,303,120.51. Following the transaction, the director now owns 83,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,718,832.61. The trade was a 43.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.