Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Raises Stake in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,315 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 454 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Guess? were worth $468,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GES. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Guess? by 266.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Guess? by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Guess? in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Numerai GP LLC acquired a new position in shares of Guess? in the third quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of Guess? during the third quarter worth approximately $243,000. 61.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guess?

In other news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 138,203 shares of Guess? stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,131,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,546,984.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 49.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Guess? Stock Up 2.2 %

GES stock opened at $26.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.26. Guess?, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.21 and a 52 week high of $33.50. The company has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.05 and a beta of 1.98.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $891.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $855.54 million. Guess? had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Guess?, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Guess? declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, April 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Guess? 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.