Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.00.

M has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays began coverage on shares of Macy's in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "cautious" rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Gordon Haskett cut Macy's from an "accumulate" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Macy's in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Macy's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated a "negative" rating on shares of Macy's in a research report on Tuesday.

Macy's Stock Performance

M opened at $11.59 on Thursday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $12.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.46. Macy's has a 52-week low of $9.76 and a 52-week high of $20.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64 and a beta of 1.77.

Macy's (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.76 billion. Macy's had a net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 21.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Macy's will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.1824 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Macy's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.30%. Macy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Macy's news, EVP Adrian V. Mitchell sold 3,489 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total value of $47,938.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 116,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,107.10. This represents a 2.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Antony Spring sold 20,868 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $264,606.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 321,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,073,373.92. This represents a 6.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,751 shares of company stock valued at $537,790. Insiders own 2.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Macy's

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of M. RWC Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Macy's in the 1st quarter worth $80,868,000. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in shares of Macy's by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,536,500 shares of the company's stock worth $19,298,000 after purchasing an additional 91,500 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new stake in Macy's in the first quarter worth about $146,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Macy's during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $640,000. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP increased its stake in shares of Macy's by 64.1% during the 1st quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 445,880 shares of the company's stock worth $5,600,000 after purchasing an additional 174,169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company's stock.

Macy's Company Profile

Macy's, Inc engages in the retail of apparel, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, and other consumer goods. The firm's brands include Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and Bluemercury. It offers men's, women's, and children's apparel, women's accessories, intimate apparel, shoes, cosmetics, fragrances, as well as home and miscellaneous products.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.