Macy’s (NYSE:M) Stock Rating Lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Macy’s (NYSE:M) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $14.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $19.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Thursday. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Macy’s from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Macy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.29.

Macy’s Price Performance

Shares of M opened at $13.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.17. Macy’s has a 1-year low of $12.60 and a 1-year high of $22.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $15.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.51.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.76 billion. Macy’s had a net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 21.99%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Macy’s will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.1824 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.53%. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is 116.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of M. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Macy’s during the 4th quarter worth about $96,689,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Macy’s during the 4th quarter worth about $48,775,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Macy’s by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,503,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,038,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812,151 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Macy’s by 1,230.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,387,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,415,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC raised its position in shares of Macy’s by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 7,838,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627,572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Company Profile

Macy’s, Inc engages in the retail of apparel, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, and other consumer goods. The firm’s brands include Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bluemercury. It offers men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel, women’s accessories, intimate apparel, shoes, cosmetics, fragrances, as well as home and miscellaneous products.