Wells Fargo & Company MN Cuts Stock Position in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lessened its position in shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,274 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,814 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.09% of Guess? worth $679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GES. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Guess? during the fourth quarter worth $1,459,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Guess? during the 4th quarter valued at about $765,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its position in Guess? by 56.8% during the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 75,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after buying an additional 27,305 shares in the last quarter. Tieton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Guess? by 95.6% in the fourth quarter. Tieton Capital Management LLC now owns 463,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,520,000 after buying an additional 226,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Guess? by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,274,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,040,000 after acquiring an additional 231,926 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

Guess? Stock Performance

Shares of GES opened at $11.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $10.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.55. The stock has a market cap of $577.99 million, a P/E ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 1.43. Guess?, Inc. has a one year low of $8.48 and a one year high of $27.41.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Guess? had a return on equity of 23.29% and a net margin of 3.19%. The firm had revenue of $932.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $916.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Guess?, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Guess? declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 25th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 38.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.76%. Guess?’s payout ratio is currently 187.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Guess? in a report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Guess? from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th.

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.