Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Increases Stock Position in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,838 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Guess? were worth $135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 822,089 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Guess? in the third quarter worth $13,335,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Guess? during the third quarter valued at $4,568,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Guess? in the third quarter valued at about $3,663,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Guess? by 51.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 472,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,221,000 after acquiring an additional 159,448 shares during the period. 61.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GES. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Guess? in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Guess? from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on shares of Guess? from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Guess? from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Guess? from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

Guess? Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GES opened at $26.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.98. Guess?, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.21 and a 1 year high of $33.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $855.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. Guess?’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Guess?, Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. Guess?’s payout ratio is 41.38%.

Guess? declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, April 1st that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guess?

In related news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 138,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.53, for a total transaction of $4,219,337.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,131,575 shares in the company, valued at $34,546,984.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 30.30% of the company’s stock.

About Guess?

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.