Comerica Bank Lowers Stake in Guess?, Inc. $GES

Key Points

• Comerica Bank reduced its stake in Guess?, Inc. by 64.1% during the 1st quarter, leaving it with 11,453 shares valued at $127,000.
• Guess? reported earnings of $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating estimates, with revenue up 5.5% year-over-year.
• Despite recent institutional movements, Guess? announced a dividend payout with a payout ratio of 750% and plans to distribute $0.225 per share.

Comerica Bank cut its stake in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES - Free Report) by 64.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,453 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,453 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in Guess? were worth $127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Guess? by 160.2% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,159,249 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,299,000 after buying an additional 713,666 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Guess? in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,834,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Guess? by 38.4% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 644,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,132,000 after buying an additional 178,848 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Guess? in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,042,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Guess? in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,243,000. 61.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on GES. UBS Group boosted their price target on Guess? from $13.00 to $16.75 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $16.75 price target on shares of Guess? in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Small Cap Consu cut Guess? from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.75.

Guess? Price Performance

Shares of GES remained flat at $16.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock had a trading volume of 460,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,582,704. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $14.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $870.26 million, a PE ratio of 104.44 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Guess?, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.48 and a fifty-two week high of $20.33.

Guess? (NYSE:GES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $772.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $758.72 million. Guess? had a return on equity of 16.44% and a net margin of 1.01%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Guess?, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Guess? Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a $0.225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Guess?'s payout ratio is currently 562.50%.

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.