Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) Receives $31.25 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the four analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.25.

GES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Guess? from $32.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Guess? in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Guess? from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price 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 reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $37.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Guess? in a report on Monday, April 8th.

Guess? Stock Up 0.6 %

GES stock opened at $20.02 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.75. Guess? has a twelve month low of $17.92 and a twelve month high of $33.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.13. The company had revenue of $591.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $574.64 million. Guess? had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 26.92%. Guess?’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.07) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Guess? will post 2.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 12th. Guess?’s payout ratio is currently 35.82%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 138,203 shares of Guess? stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.53, for a total value of $4,219,337.59. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,131,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,546,984.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 30.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners bought a new stake in Guess? during the 1st quarter valued at $3,481,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Guess? during the first quarter valued at about $717,000. EMC Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Guess? by 10.0% during the first quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the period. Comerica Bank grew its stake in shares of Guess? by 73.8% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 21,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 9,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Guess? during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,246,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

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.