Denali Advisors LLC Takes Position in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 16,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $519,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GES. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Guess? in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Guess? by 405.6% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Guess? by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in Guess? in the 3rd quarter worth about $243,000. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Guess? during the fourth quarter worth approximately $250,000. 61.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 138,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.53, for a total transaction of $4,219,337.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,131,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,546,984.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 30.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Guess? from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $37.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Guess? in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Guess? from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Guess? in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Guess? from $32.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.25.

Guess? Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE GES opened at $20.02 on Thursday. Guess?, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.92 and a 12 month high of $33.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 1.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $23.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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

Guess? declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, April 1st that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Guess? Announces Dividend

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

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.