Guess? (NYSE:GES) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $8.55 and last traded at $8.68, with a volume of 2551493 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.74.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Guess? from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Guess? in a report on Friday, April 4th.

Guess? Stock Down 10.9 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.60. 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 company has a market cap of $446.39 million, a PE ratio of 7.29 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 187.50%.

Guess? announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 38.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Guess?

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Guess? by 9,137.0% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 2,467 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Guess? by 158.0% during the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 6,068 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Guess? during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $171,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Guess? in the fourth quarter valued at $175,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Guess? during the 4th quarter valued at $191,000. 61.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.