Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. Makes New Investment in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 10,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Guess? by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 20,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Guess? by 3.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Guess? by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of Guess? by 4.4% in the third quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 23,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Guess? by 13.5% in the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. 61.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 138,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.53, for a total transaction of $4,219,337.59. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,131,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,546,984.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 41.00% of the company’s stock.

Guess? Stock Performance

Shares of GES stock traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.94. 851,566 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,201,960. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 1.98. Guess?, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.21 and a 12-month high of $33.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $891.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $855.54 million. Guess? had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 7.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Guess?, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Guess? announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, April 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GES has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Guess? from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Guess? in a report on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on Guess? from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group increased their target price on Guess? from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Guess? from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

Guess? Company 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.