State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Grows Stock Holdings in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its stake in shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 30,238 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,254 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Guess? were worth $425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. EMC Capital Management grew its holdings in Guess? by 158.0% in the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 6,068 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Guess? during the 4th quarter worth $191,000. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Guess? by 109.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 7,472 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Guess? in the fourth quarter valued at about $226,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Guess? during the fourth quarter worth about $256,000. 61.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GES shares. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Guess? from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Guess? in a research report on Friday, April 4th.

Guess? Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of GES stock opened at $11.36 on Monday. Guess?, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.48 and a 1-year high of $27.41. The firm has a market cap of $588.88 million, a PE ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Guess? had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 23.29%. The firm had revenue of $932.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $916.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Guess?, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.56%. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio is presently 187.50%.

Guess? announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 25th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 38.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.