Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) Receives $32.00 Average Target Price from Analysts

Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the four research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.00.

Several research firms have commented on GES. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of Guess? in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Guess? from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on shares of Guess? from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Guess? from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Guess? from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd.

Guess? Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GES opened at $25.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Guess? has a one year low of $17.21 and a one year high of $33.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $26.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.08. The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 1.98.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.46. Guess? had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 7.14%. The business had revenue of $891.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $855.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Guess? will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.67%. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.38%.

Guess? announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, April 1st that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Guess? news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 138,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.53, for a total value of $4,219,337.59. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,131,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,546,984.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 49.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guess?

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Guess? by 10.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 473,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,250,000 after buying an additional 46,035 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Guess? in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,128,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Guess? by 79.6% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 344,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,458,000 after purchasing an additional 152,788 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Guess? during the third quarter valued at approximately $495,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Guess? in the third quarter valued at $321,000. 61.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Guess?

Guess?, Inc designs, markets, distributes, and licenses lifestyle collections of apparel and accessories for men, women, and children. It operates through five segments: Americas Retail, Americas Wholesale, Europe, Asia, and Licensing. The company's clothing collection includes jeans, pants, skirts, dresses, shorts, blouses, shirts, jackets, activewear, knitwear, and intimate apparel.