Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) Short Interest Down 13.3% in May

Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,380,000 shares, a decline of 13.3% from the April 30th total of 7,360,000 shares. Approximately 21.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,610,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on GES. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Guess? in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Guess? from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd.

Guess? Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GES traded up $1.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,951,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,216,518. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.86 and a 200-day moving average of $12.35. Guess? has a 12 month low of $8.48 and a 12 month high of $24.64. 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 firm has a market cap of $624.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 1.20.

Guess? (NYSE:GES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.70) by $0.26. Guess? had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 23.29%. The business had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $630.61 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.27) EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Guess? will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.00%. Guess?'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 187.50%.

Guess? declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 38.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guess?

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Guess? during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,191,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Guess? by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,383,177 shares of the company's stock worth $19,447,000 after buying an additional 167,782 shares during the period. Tieton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 226,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its stake in Guess? by 123.8% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 42,022 shares of the company's stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 23,247 shares during the last quarter. 61.74% of the stock is currently owned by 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.