West Tower Group LLC Grows Stock Position in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

West Tower Group LLC grew its position in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 56.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 73,645 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,659 shares during the quarter. Macy’s comprises 2.8% of West Tower Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. West Tower Group LLC’s holdings in Macy’s were worth $1,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 937.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 4,190 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on M shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Macy’s from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $14.00 price objective on Macy’s in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Macy’s in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded Macy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Macy’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.30.

Macy’s Trading Down 1.8 %

M opened at $13.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Macy’s, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.60 and a 12 month high of $22.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $14.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.37.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.76 billion. Macy’s had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.1824 dividend. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.38%. This is a positive change from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Macy’s’s payout ratio is presently 35.44%.

Macy’s Company Profile

Macy’s, Inc engages in the retail of apparel, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, and other consumer goods. The firm’s brands include Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bluemercury. It offers men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel, women’s accessories, intimate apparel, shoes, cosmetics, fragrances, as well as home and miscellaneous products.