Brokerages Set Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) Target Price at $20.43

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.43.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus raised Macy’s to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Macy’s from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Sunday, November 10th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macy’s

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Macy’s by 1,539.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,534,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,871,000 after purchasing an additional 3,319,337 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Macy’s by 9.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,489,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,476 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Macy’s by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,704,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,333,000 after acquiring an additional 747,542 shares during the period. Barington Capital Group L.P. raised its position in shares of Macy’s by 550.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. now owns 650,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,198,000 after acquiring an additional 550,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beryl Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,015,000. Institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of Macy’s stock opened at $14.57 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77 and a beta of 2.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.88. Macy’s has a 1 year low of $14.06 and a 1 year high of $22.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Macy’s had a return on equity of 23.14% and a net margin of 0.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Macy’s will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Macy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.1737 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Macy’s’s payout ratio is 107.81%.

About Macy’s

Macy's, Inc, an omni-channel retail organization, operates stores, websites, and mobile applications in the United States. The company sells a range of merchandise, such as apparel and accessories for men, women, and kids; cosmetics; home furnishings; and other consumer goods under the Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and bluemercury brands.