Guess? (NYSE:GES) Shares Gap Up to $22.90

Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $22.90, but opened at $23.81. Guess? shares last traded at $23.73, with a volume of 71,273 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GES shares. TheStreet raised shares of Guess? from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Guess? in a research note on Monday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Guess? in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Guess? in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.33.

Guess? Stock Up 4.4 %

The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 1.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $22.00 and its 200 day moving average is $20.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 23rd. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $664.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $640.50 million. Guess? had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 31.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Guess?, Inc. will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 6th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 5th. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Deborah Weinswig sold 6,896 shares of Guess? stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.03, for a total value of $158,814.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,554.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 49.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Guess?

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GES. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Guess? by 266.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Guess? during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Guess? during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Guess? by 732.9% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 2,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Guess? by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. 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.