Guess?’s (GES) Market Perform Rating Reiterated at Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group reiterated their market perform rating on shares of Guess? (NYSE:GES) in a report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. Telsey Advisory Group currently has a $30.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Guess? from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. B. Riley reiterated a buy rating and set a $37.00 price objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Guess? in a research note on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Guess? from $32.00 to $29.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Guess? from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guess? presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $31.25.

Guess? Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GES opened at $23.28 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.89. Guess? has a 52 week low of $17.92 and a 52 week high of $33.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.13. Guess? had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $591.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.07) earnings per share. Guess?’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Guess? will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 12th. Guess?’s payout ratio is 41.38%.

Guess? announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 211,797 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.32, for a total transaction of $6,421,685.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,778 shares in the company, valued at $38,499,668.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 30.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guess?

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners acquired a new position in Guess? in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,481,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Guess? in the 1st quarter worth approximately $717,000. EMC Capital Management boosted its stake in Guess? by 10.0% in the 1st 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 boosted its stake in Guess? by 73.8% in the 1st 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 period. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Guess? in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,246,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

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.