Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) Shares Purchased by SummerHaven Investment Management LLC

SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,381 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Guess? worth $862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GES. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Guess? in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $267,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Guess? by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 14,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,475 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Guess? by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Guess? by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 888 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Guess? during the 3rd quarter valued at $351,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

Guess? Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GES traded up $0.46 on Monday, hitting $26.69. 144,962 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,176,501. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $27.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.29. Guess?, Inc. has a one year low of $17.21 and a one year 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.98.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last posted 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. Guess? had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $891.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $855.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Guess?, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Guess? announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, April 1st that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 board believes its shares are undervalued.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. Guess?’s payout ratio is 41.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 211,797 shares of Guess? stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.32, for a total transaction of $6,421,685.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,499,668.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 41.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.