Macy’s (NYSE:M) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Macy’s (NYSE:M) in a research report released on Wednesday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Macy’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Macy’s from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Macy’s from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Macy’s from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a market perform rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $17.45.

Macy’s Trading Up 0.4 %

M opened at $18.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.81 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.52. Macy’s has a 1-year low of $10.54 and a 1-year high of $22.10.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Macy’s had a return on equity of 23.34% and a net margin of 0.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Macy’s will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.1737 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 186.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total value of $60,656.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,436 shares in the company, valued at $437,937.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Danielle L. Kirgan sold 15,070 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total transaction of $307,729.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 306,555 shares in the company, valued at $6,259,853.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total transaction of $60,656.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,937.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 218,424 shares of company stock worth $4,405,507 over the last ninety days. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macy’s

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Macy’s by 0.5% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 311,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Macy’s by 333.3% during the first quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Macy’s by 2.6% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 78,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in Macy’s by 8.7% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 186,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,728,000 after acquiring an additional 14,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Macy’s by 4.4% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Company Profile

Macy's, Inc, an omni-channel retail organization, operates stores, websites, and mobile applications in the United States. The company sells a range of merchandise, such as apparel and accessories for men, women, and kids; cosmetics; home furnishings; and other consumer goods under the Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and bluemercury brands.