Macy’s (NYSE:M) Lowered to “Neutral” Rating by The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Macy’s (NYSE:M) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $12.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $17.00.

M has been the topic of a number of other reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Macy’s in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $14.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded Macy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.40.

Macy’s Price Performance

Shares of M opened at $11.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68 and a beta of 1.73. Macy’s has a 1-year low of $9.76 and a 1-year high of $20.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.72.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.76 billion. Macy’s had a net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 21.99%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Macy’s will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.1824 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.62%. Macy’s’s payout ratio is presently 35.44%.

Insider Transactions at Macy’s

In other news, EVP Tracy M. Preston sold 2,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $35,250.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,723 shares in the company, valued at $59,887.64. This trade represents a 37.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Antony Spring sold 20,868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $264,606.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 321,244 shares in the company, valued at $4,073,373.92. This represents a 6.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,751 shares of company stock worth $537,790 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macy’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Macy’s by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 25,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 3,443 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Macy’s by 15.6% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 276,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,478,000 after purchasing an additional 37,334 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC acquired a new position in Macy’s during the first quarter worth $156,000. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Macy’s by 9.6% during the first quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 1,353 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Macy’s by 126.0% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 184,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after buying an additional 102,885 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Company Profile

Macy’s, Inc engages in the retail of apparel, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, and other consumer goods. The firm’s brands include Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bluemercury. It offers men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel, women’s accessories, intimate apparel, shoes, cosmetics, fragrances, as well as home and miscellaneous products.