StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Macy’s (NYSE:M)

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Macy’s (NYSE:M) in a report issued on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on M. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Macy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Macy’s from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Macy’s from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup raised Macy’s from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Macy’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.45.

Macy’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE M opened at $19.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 52.74 and a beta of 2.16. Macy’s has a 52 week low of $10.54 and a 52 week high of $22.10.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.47. Macy’s had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 23.34%. The business had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Macy’s will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Adrian V. Mitchell sold 13,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total value of $270,544.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,023,581.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Adrian V. Mitchell sold 13,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total transaction of $270,544.58. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,023,581.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Antony Spring sold 14,859 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.63, for a total value of $291,682.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 248,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,885,848.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 218,424 shares of company stock valued at $4,405,507 over the last 90 days. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macy’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Macy’s by 7.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,381,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,390,000 after buying an additional 2,645,577 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Macy’s by 260.8% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,547,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,841,432 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Macy’s by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 544,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,322,000 after acquiring an additional 73,924 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Macy’s by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,287,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,173,000 after purchasing an additional 565,269 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,021,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Company Profile

Macy's, Inc, an omni-channel retail organization, operates stores, websites, and mobile applications in the United States. The company sells a range of merchandise, such as apparel and accessories for men, women, and kids; cosmetics; home furnishings; and other consumer goods under the Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and bluemercury brands.