Guess? (NYSE:GES) Stock Price Down 5.9% – Should You Sell?

Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)’s share price dropped 5.9% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $10.04 and last traded at $10.37. Approximately 365,364 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 1,239,957 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GES. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Guess? in a research report on Friday. UBS Group cut their price objective on Guess? from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Guess? Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $499.34 million, a PE ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.79.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Guess? had a return on equity of 23.29% and a net margin of 3.19%. The business had revenue of $932.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $916.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Guess?, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.37%. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.84%.

Guess? declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 38.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guess?

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GES. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Guess? by 216.9% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 2,299 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Guess? by 158.0% during the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 6,068 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Guess? in the 4th quarter valued at about $171,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Guess? in the 4th quarter valued at about $175,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Guess? during the 4th quarter worth about $191,000. 61.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.