Yahoo Finance Macerich (MAC) Adds Primark at Queens Center in New York City
Amid the growing demand for its premium shopping centers, The Macerich Company MAC recently announced the addition of the Irish retail brand Primark at its popular Queens Center in New York City. Primark will occupy 54,562 square feet of multi-level space. It is expected to draw more shoppers to this well-known retail destination.
The move deepens Macerich, Primark relationship, with the latest opening marking Primark’s seventh store at a Macerich property. MAC has emerged as one of the largest U.S. landlords of Primark, with Primark stores open at Kings Plaza (Brooklyn), Danbury Fair (Connecticut), Fashion District Philadelphia and Freehold Raceway Mall (New Jersey). Also, stores are opening shortly at Tysons Corner Center in McClean, VA, and Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, NY.
Macerich has a high concentration of high-quality retail real estate in vibrant U.S. markets. These properties are located in densely populated areas, where affluent consumers with significant disposable incomes live and play, offering the company solid scope to generate decent cash flows.
Located in Elmhurst, New York, Queens Center — an urban shopping center — has emerged as one of the best-performing in the Macerich portfolio of high-quality properties. Overall sales in the center topped $1,700 per square foot, and several national brands list their Queens Center site as among their top-performing ones.
The retail REIT sector is witnessing a recovery, backed by consumer spending. Retailers’ focus has shifted from closing stores to the revival of their growth plans, resulting in more demand for physical store spaces. This paves the way for retail REITs to experience gain in leasing activity and pricing power and flourish. Macerich too is expected to benefit from this latest addition at Queens Center.
Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock have rallied 26.9% over the past six months compared with the industry's increase of 5.7%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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Last month, Macerich reported a fourth-quarter FFO per share of 53 cents, excluding financing expenses in relation to Chandler Freehold, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. The figure matched the prior-year quarter’s tally. Macerich’s quarterly revenues of $228.2 million lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $235.9 million. Also, the figure was lower than the year-ago quarter’s $229.4 million.
Let’s now check how the retail REITs have performed during the fourth quarter.
Simon Property Group, Inc.’s SPG fourth-quarter 2022 comparable FFO per share of $3.15 exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.14. The figure compared favorably with the year-ago quarter’s $3.11. Simon Property’s performance was backed by a better-than-expected top line. Results reflected a healthy operating performance and growth in occupancy levels.
Federal Realty Investment Trust’s FRT fourth-quarter 2022 FFO per share of $1.58 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.57. This also compared favorably with the year-ago quarter’s tally of $1.47. Federal Realty’s results reflected healthy leasing activity and better-than-anticipated revenues.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represent funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
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