Handelsbanken Fonder AB Decreases Stock Position in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its stake in shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) by 35.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,549 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,300 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Guess? were worth $220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Guess? by 147.8% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,378,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,828,000 after acquiring an additional 822,089 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Guess? by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,035,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,417,000 after purchasing an additional 12,134 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in Guess? by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 836,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,103,000 after purchasing an additional 35,066 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Guess? in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,335,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Guess? by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 473,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,250,000 after buying an additional 46,035 shares during the last quarter. 61.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Guess? news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 211,797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.32, for a total value of $6,421,685.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,499,668.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 49.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Guess? Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GES opened at $26.71 on Friday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $27.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.43. Guess?, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.21 and a fifty-two week high of $33.50. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 1.98.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.46. Guess? had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 7.14%. The business had revenue of $891.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $855.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Guess?, Inc. will post 2.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Guess? announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, April 1st that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 16th. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.