DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Reduces Stock Position in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale decreased its position in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) by 23.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,275 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,204 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Guess? were worth $169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Guess? by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 473,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,250,000 after acquiring an additional 46,035 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Guess? during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,128,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in Guess? by 79.6% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 344,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,458,000 after buying an additional 152,788 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Guess? in the third quarter worth approximately $495,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Guess? during the third quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Institutional investors own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GES has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Guess? from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Guess? from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of Guess? in a report on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Guess? from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Guess? from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Guess? has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Insider Transactions at Guess?

In related news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 211,797 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.32, for a total transaction of $6,421,685.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,499,668.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 41.00% of the company’s stock.

Guess? Stock Down 8.2 %

NYSE GES opened at $25.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.03. Guess?, Inc. has a one year low of $17.21 and a one year high of $33.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 1.98.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.46. Guess? had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business had revenue of $891.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $855.54 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Guess?, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. Guess?’s payout ratio is 41.38%.

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.