Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Buys New Stake in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 193,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,720,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned 0.38% of Guess? as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EMC Capital Management increased its stake in Guess? by 158.0% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 6,068 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Guess? in the fourth quarter valued at about $171,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Guess? during the fourth quarter worth about $191,000. Amundi grew its stake in Guess? by 109.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 7,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new stake in Guess? during the fourth quarter worth about $226,000. Institutional investors own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

Guess? Price Performance

GES opened at $11.49 on Monday. Guess?, Inc. has a one year low of $8.48 and a one year high of $27.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $595.62 million, a P/E ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 1.25.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $916.75 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Guess?, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th were issued 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 10.44%. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 187.50%.

Guess? announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 38.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Guess? in a research note on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Guess? from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th.

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.