Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) Shares Purchased by Algert Global LLC

Algert Global LLC grew its stake in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 89,903 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,435 shares during the quarter. Algert Global LLC’s holdings in Guess? were worth $1,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Guess? in the fourth quarter worth approximately $171,000. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Guess? by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 31,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Guess? during the fourth quarter worth $244,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Guess? by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 172,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,427,000 after buying an additional 42,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Guess? during the 4th quarter worth about $2,571,000. 61.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GES has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Guess? from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Guess? in a research note on Friday, April 4th.

Guess? Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GES opened at $11.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $595.62 million, a P/E ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 1.25. Guess?, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.48 and a 1-year high of $27.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.22.

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

Guess? Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 2nd. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.44%. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 187.50%.

Guess? declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 38.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Guess? Profile

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.