Guess? (NYSE:GES) Shares Up 6.5% After Earnings Beat

Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 6.5% during trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $12.37 and last traded at $11.71. Approximately 546,525 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 1,371,814 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.99.

The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.70) by $0.26. Guess? had a return on equity of 23.29% and a net margin of 3.19%. The company had revenue of $647.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $630.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.27) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.97%. Guess?'s payout ratio is presently -500.00%.

Guess? announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guess?

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GES. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in Guess? by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 31,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Guess? by 713.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 2,032 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Guess? by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 89,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,264,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Guess? by 9,137.0% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,494 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Guess? by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 20,498 shares of the company's stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 3,070 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.74% of the company's stock.

Guess? Price Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $626.26 million, a PE ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 1.20.

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.