Guess? (NYSE:GES) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $11.12, but opened at $11.50. Guess? shares last traded at $11.27, with a volume of 67,098 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Guess? in a report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group increased their price target on Guess? from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd.

Guess? Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $545.60 million, a P/E ratio of 8.82 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.54.

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

Guess? Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 16th. Guess?'s payout ratio is 187.50%.

Guess? declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 25th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 38.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guess?

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GES. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Guess? by 160.2% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,159,249 shares of the company's stock worth $16,299,000 after purchasing an additional 713,666 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Guess? in the 1st quarter worth $5,834,000. Slotnik Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Guess? in the 1st quarter worth $3,257,000. Natixis lifted its holdings in shares of Guess? by 743.5% in the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 285,100 shares of the company's stock worth $4,009,000 after purchasing an additional 251,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Guess? by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,274,565 shares of the company's stock worth $46,040,000 after purchasing an additional 231,926 shares in the last quarter. 61.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Guess?

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.