Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) Short Interest Update

Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) saw a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,020,000 shares, a decline of 10.3% from the November 30th total of 7,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 907,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.7 days. Approximately 23.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Guess? Stock Performance

Shares of GES stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $14.06. The company had a trading volume of 845,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,126,227. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $16.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.17. Guess? has a one year low of $13.31 and a one year high of $33.50. The firm has a market cap of $723.49 million, a PE ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.89.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $738.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $747.36 million. Guess? had a return on equity of 23.29% and a net margin of 3.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Guess? will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on GES. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Guess? from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their target price on Guess? from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Guess? currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GES. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Guess? by 72.9% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 4,254 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Guess? during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $588,000. Versor Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Guess? by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 11,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,424 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Guess? by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 59,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Guess? by 25.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $994,000 after purchasing an additional 9,993 shares in the last quarter. 61.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.