SANTA MONICA, CA-The Macerich Co. has sold five assets while raising $171 million in a common stock offering.

Macerich said today it has sold the Green Tree Mall in Clarksville, Ind. and an office complex in the Redmond Town Center in downtown Redmond, WA.  Additionally, Macerich is under contract to sell three malls in undisclosed locations by the end of June. Individual sales prices were not broken out. The average annual tenant sales per square foot for the mall dispositions is $389, Macerich said in a statement.

The company's pro rata share of the total sales proceeds was pegged at $470 million. The company paid off its pro rata share of debt on the Redmond Town Center office complex for $58.7 million.

Additionally, the company stated that it raised $171 million last month in a common stock offering under its at-the-market (ATM) program. The ATM equity issuance was done at an average share price of $70.42. Most of the proceeds were raised during the three trading days prior to Macerich's inclusion in the S&P 500 Index.

After the dispositions from the recent transactions, Macerich owns more than 61 million square feet of real estate, mostly in 57 regional shopping centers. The company is a real estate investment trust focused on retail properties.

Calls to Macerich regarding the transactions were not immediately returned.

The company news arrived at the same time as one analyst firm downgraded its recommendations on the Macerich stock from "buy" to "hold."  While citing multiple areas of strength, including revenue growth, good cash flow from operations and "compelling" growth in net income, TheStreetRatings said it "finds weaknesses including disappointing return on equity, poor profit margins and feeble growth in the company's earnings per share."

The report indicated that, compared to other companies in the REITs industry and the overall market, Macerich's return on equity is "below that of both the industry average and the S&P 500."

As previously reported by GlobeSt.com, Macerich reported a strong fourth quarter. claiming strong leasing, occupancy gains and continued tenant sales growth, according to chairman and CEO Arthur Coppola.