Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $3.59 Million Holdings in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 184,305 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,028 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.33% of Guess? worth $3,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GES. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Guess? by 158.6% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,170,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,220,000 after buying an additional 717,977 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Guess? in the 4th quarter worth $6,088,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Guess? by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,555,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,546,000 after purchasing an additional 184,983 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Guess? in the 4th quarter worth $3,718,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in Guess? by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 485,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,054,000 after purchasing an additional 175,627 shares during the last quarter. 61.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Guess?

In other news, Director Deborah Weinswig sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.67, for a total transaction of $413,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $538,846.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 41.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Guess? from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Guess? in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. 888 reaffirmed an “initiates” rating on shares of Guess? in a report on Friday, June 16th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Guess? in a report on Friday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Guess? from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Guess? presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Guess? Price Performance

Shares of GES stock opened at $24.48 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 1.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $20.53 and its 200-day moving average is $19.98. Guess?, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.27 and a 1 year high of $24.84.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 23rd. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.32. Guess? had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 31.72%. The business had revenue of $664.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $640.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. Guess?’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Guess?, Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 5th. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio is 56.34%.

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.