Orbis Allan Gray Ltd Purchases 64,482 Shares of Marcus Corporation (The) $MCS

Key Points

• Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its stake in Marcus Corporation by 5.4%, now owning approximately 1.26 million shares valued at about $21 million.
• Marcus Corporation recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.08 per share from $0.07, with a payout ratio of 71.11%.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus target price of $24.50 for Marcus, with several ratings including "outperform" and "buy" from various research firms.

Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its stake in Marcus Corporation (The) (NYSE:MCS - Free Report) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,260,565 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 64,482 shares during the quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd owned approximately 3.97% of Marcus worth $21,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Marcus by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,481,190 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,845,000 after buying an additional 24,325 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new stake in shares of Marcus during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $234,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marcus by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 303,022 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,515,000 after buying an additional 7,981 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marcus during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $346,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marcus during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $289,000. 81.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marcus Price Performance

Shares of Marcus stock traded down $0.18 on Wednesday, hitting $15.19. 214,110 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 206,863. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Marcus Corporation has a 12-month low of $14.09 and a 12-month high of $23.16. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $16.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.91. The company has a market cap of $475.44 million, a P/E ratio of 33.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.22.

Marcus (NYSE:MCS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.04. Marcus had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 4.28%. The company had revenue of $206.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $192.79 million. Analysts expect that Marcus Corporation will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marcus Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Marcus's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Marcus's payout ratio is 71.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Marcus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Marcus in a report on Friday, July 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Marcus in a report on Friday, May 16th. They set a "buy" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Marcus in a report on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.50.

Marcus Profile

The Marcus Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates movie theatres, and hotels and resorts in the United States. It operates a family entertainment center and multiscreen motion picture theatres under the Big Screen Bistro, Big Screen Bistro Express, BistroPlex, and Movie Tavern by Marcus brand names.