Gallacher Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Gallacher Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 10,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 46,035 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Guess? in the third quarter worth $1,128,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of Guess? by 79.6% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 344,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,458,000 after buying an additional 152,788 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Guess? by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 37,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Guess? during the third quarter valued at about $495,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 138,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.53, for a total value 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 approximately $34,546,984.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 30.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Guess? Trading Down 0.3 %

GES opened at $27.10 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Guess?, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.21 and a 52 week high of $33.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $27.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 1.98.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $891.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $855.54 million. Guess? had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Guess?, Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Guess? announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, April 1st that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. Guess?’s payout ratio is 41.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on Guess? from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Guess? from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Guess? from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Guess? from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. 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 note 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Guess? presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.00.

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.