Macy’s (NYSE:M) Upgraded at Benchmark

Benchmark upgraded shares of Macy’s (NYSE:M) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on M. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Macy’s from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Macy’s to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Macy’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.75.

Macy’s Stock Performance

Macy’s stock opened at $14.88 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Macy’s has a twelve month low of $13.66 and a twelve month high of $22.10. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 25.21 and a beta of 2.06.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.03). Macy’s had a net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. Macy’s’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Macy’s will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macy’s

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Macy’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $140,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in Macy’s during the fourth quarter worth $761,000. Factorial Partners LLC boosted its position in Macy’s by 61.8% during the fourth quarter. Factorial Partners LLC now owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 42,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Macy’s in the fourth quarter valued at $621,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Macy’s

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.