StockNews.com Downgrades Macy’s (NYSE:M) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Macy’s (NYSE:M) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on M. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group cut their price target on Macy’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Macy’s to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.56.

Macy’s Trading Down 3.1 %

NYSE:M opened at $17.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.73 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 1.26. Macy’s has a one year low of $14.06 and a one year high of $22.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.35.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. Macy’s had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Macy’s will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.1737 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macy’s

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of M. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Macy’s by 57.9% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 782,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,276,000 after buying an additional 286,879 shares during the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Macy’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $730,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Macy’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $221,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Macy’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $594,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Macy’s by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,023,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,110,000 after purchasing an additional 128,258 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.