Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 231,926 Shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES - Free Report) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,274,565 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 231,926 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 6.36% of Guess? worth $46,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GES. EMC Capital Management raised its position in shares of Guess? by 158.0% during the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,908 shares of the company's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 6,068 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Guess? by 109.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,291 shares of the company's stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 7,472 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Guess? during the fourth quarter worth $226,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Guess? during the fourth quarter worth $256,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Guess? by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 20,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 3,906 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on GES shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Guess? in a research note on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Guess? from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th.

Guess? Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GES traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $9.09. The stock had a trading volume of 195,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,236,945. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $11.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.21. The company has a market cap of $467.95 million, a P/E ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 1.43. Guess?, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.48 and a 12 month high of $27.41.

Guess? (NYSE:GES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The company 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%. The company's revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Guess?, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. Guess?'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 187.50%.

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