Is Macerich (MAC) A Smart Long-Term Buy?

Smead Capital Management, an investment management firm, published its “Smead Value Fund” fourth quarter 2020 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. A return of 12.48% was recorded by the fund in the fourth quarter of 2020, below its Russell 1000 benchmark that delivered a 14.7% return, but above the S&P 500 Index which had a gain of 12.15% in the same period. You can view the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a peek at their top bets for 2021.

Smead Capital Management, in their Q4 2020 investor letter, mentioned The Macerich Company (NYSE: MAC) and emphasized their views on the company. The Macerich Company is a Santa Monica, California-based real estate investment trust company that currently has a $1.8 billion market capitalization. Since the beginning of the year, MAC delivered an 8.43% return, impressively extending its 12-month gains to 92.51%. As of March 29, 2021, the stock closed at $11.57 per share.

Here is what Smead Capital Management has to say about The Macerich Company in their Q4 2020 investor letter:

“Macerich started what we hope is a long comeback as reopening will trigger people to want to do things which they couldn’t do prior to herd immunity or a vaccination.  Macerich is the only stock we ended the year with an unrealized loss, and you can imagine what our optimism is for it to not take the tax loss and get immediate gratification.”

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Our calculations show that The Macerich Company (NYSE: MAC) does not belong in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, The Macerich Company was in 16 hedge fund portfolios, compared to 18 funds in the third quarter. MAC delivered a 5.28% return in the past 3 months.