Telsey Advisory Group Reaffirms Market Perform Rating for Guess? (NYSE:GES)

Telsey Advisory Group restated their market perform rating on shares of Guess? (NYSE:GES) in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Telsey Advisory Group currently has a $13.00 price target on the stock.

Separately, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Guess? from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Guess? Stock Performance

GES stock opened at $10.91 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.85. Guess? has a 12-month low of $9.24 and a 12-month high of $31.04. The firm has a market cap of $561.14 million, a P/E ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.43. 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 earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Guess? had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 23.29%. The company had revenue of $932.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $916.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Guess? will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.00%. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.84%.

Guess? announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 38.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Guess? by 4.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,215,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,466,000 after purchasing an additional 54,990 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in Guess? by 216.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 2,299 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Guess? by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 311,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,274,000 after acquiring an additional 19,750 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Guess? by 8,708.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 691,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,910,000 after acquiring an additional 683,185 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of Guess? by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 72,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 5,906 shares in the last quarter. 61.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.