Guess? (NYSE:GES) PT Lowered to $29.00

Guess? (NYSE:GES) had its target price trimmed by UBS Group from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. B. Riley reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $37.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of Guess? in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Guess? from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Guess? from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Guess? from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Guess? presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $31.25.

Guess? Stock Performance

NYSE GES opened at $24.36 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.40 and a beta of 1.98. Guess? has a fifty-two week low of $17.92 and a fifty-two week high of $33.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.55 and a 200-day moving average of $24.87.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.46. Guess? had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $891.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $855.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Guess? will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Guess? declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, April 1st that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.93%. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.38%.

Insider Transactions at Guess?

In related news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 211,797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.32, for a total value of $6,421,685.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,778 shares in the company, valued at $38,499,668.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 30.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Guess?

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Guess? by 266.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Guess? during the 1st quarter valued at about $60,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Guess? during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Guess? by 405.6% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Guess? by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. 61.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.