Hedge Your Portfolio with This Real Estate Stock at New 5-Year Highs
Macerich Company (MAC), a retail REIT, is demonstrating strong technical momentum.
A 2.59% dividend yield also sweetens things for potential Macerich investors.
Analyst sentiment is mixed with price targets ranging from $19 to $31.
Author's note: In times of financial uncertainty, real estate starts to look like an attractive edge. This last week, all three of my favorite real estate ETFs, Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ), Cohen & Steers Real Estate ETF (ICF), and the S&P 500 Real Estate SPDR (XLRE), all showed gains.
Valued at $7.3 billion, Macerich Company (MAC) is a retail real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, acquires, leases, manages, develops, and redevelops regional and community shopping centers in high barrier-to-entry markets. Macerich primarily focuses on the attractive, densely populated markets of the United States.
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I found today's Chart of the Day by using Barchart's powerful screening functions to sort for stocks with the highest technical buy signals; superior current momentum in both strength and direction, Weighted Alpha above 50+ and a 60-Month Beta over 1.5. I then used Barchart's Flipcharts feature to review the charts for consistent price appreciation. MAC checks those boxes. The Trend Seeker issued a new "Buy" signal on June 23. Since then, the stock has gained 7.89%.
The stock recently traded at $26.14 with a 50-day moving average of $24.19.
MACE has made 3 new highs and gained 1.7% over the past month.
Revenue is projected to be slightly down by 3.93% this year but increase again by 4.93% next year.
Earnings are estimated to increase 52.59% this year and an additional 178.57% next year
The Wall Street analysts followed by Barchart give the stock 9 "Strong Buy," 6 "Hold" and 1 "Strong Sell" opinions with price targets between $19 and $30.
Value Line rates the stock "Lowest" with price targets from $13 to $31.
CFRA's MarketScope rates the stock a "Sell" with a price target of $18.
26,610 investors are following the stock on Seeking Alpha, which rates it a "Hold."
Short interest is 9.02% of the float with 4 days to cover the float.
Right now, real estate is an alternative hedge. In the last few months one new analyst added a "Strong Buy" rating and another one dropped a "Strong Sell" opinion, so that's a positive revision. Macerich is on track to reach 85% of its "Path Forward" leasing target by midyear, noted Citi analyst Craig Mailman, who also sees additional net operating income upside after the plan from incremental remerchandising.
Additional disclosure: The Barchart Chart of the Day highlights stocks that are experiencing exceptional current price appreciation. They are not intended to be buy recommendations as these stocks are extremely volatile and speculative. Should you decide to add one of these stocks to your investment portfolio it is highly suggested you follow a predetermined diversification and moving stop loss discipline that is consistent with your personal investment risk tolerance.
