Northern Trust Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES - Free Report) by 33.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,650 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 42,805 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.34% of Guess? worth $2,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GES. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Guess? by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,290,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,261,000 after purchasing an additional 228,601 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Guess? by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,274,565 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,040,000 after buying an additional 231,926 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Guess? by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,383,177 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,447,000 after acquiring an additional 167,782 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Guess? by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 715,343 shares of the company's stock worth $9,514,000 after acquiring an additional 24,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tieton Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Guess? by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Tieton Capital Management LLC now owns 463,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,520,000 after acquiring an additional 226,705 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Guess? in a research note on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Guess? from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd.

Guess? Stock Performance

Shares of GES stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $11.13. The company had a trading volume of 51,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,218,470. The stock has a market cap of $578.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $10.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.69. Guess?, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.48 and a 52-week high of $24.64.

Guess? (NYSE:GES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $932.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $916.75 million. Guess? had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 23.29%. Guess?'s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Guess?, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.78%. Guess?'s dividend payout ratio is currently 187.50%.

Guess? announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 25th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 38.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.