ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 103,790 Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 103,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,459,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in shares of Guess? during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,349,000. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Guess? during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,191,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Guess? by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,383,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,447,000 after buying an additional 167,782 shares in the last quarter. Tieton Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Guess? by 95.6% during the fourth quarter. Tieton Capital Management LLC now owns 463,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,520,000 after buying an additional 226,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of Guess? by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 77,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,088,000 after buying an additional 27,558 shares in the last quarter. 61.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Guess? Trading Up 26.0 %

Shares of GES opened at $10.91 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $11.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $561.40 million, a P/E ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 1.43. Guess?, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.48 and a 1-year high of $29.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $932.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $916.75 million. Guess? had a return on equity of 23.29% and a net margin of 3.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Guess?, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Guess? declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 38.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.00%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio is currently 187.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Guess? from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Guess? in a research note on Friday, April 4th.

Guess? Company Profile

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.