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

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

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

Insider Transactions at Guess?

In other Guess? news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 211,797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.32, for a total value of $6,421,685.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,499,668.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 49.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guess?

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Guess? by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,555,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,546,000 after buying an additional 184,983 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Guess? by 1.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,970,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,760,000 after acquiring an additional 50,371 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Guess? by 2.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,499,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,169,000 after acquiring an additional 32,367 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Guess? by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,447,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,388,000 after purchasing an additional 69,500 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Guess? by 158.6% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,170,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,220,000 after purchasing an additional 717,977 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

Guess? Stock Performance

NYSE:GES opened at $25.68 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Guess? has a fifty-two week low of $17.21 and a fifty-two week high of $33.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 1.98.

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

Guess? declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, April 1st that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

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

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.