Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 54,426 Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 54,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $765,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.11% of Guess? as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GES. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Guess? by 8,708.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 691,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,910,000 after purchasing an additional 683,185 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Guess? by 7.6% during 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 period. Tieton Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Guess? by 95.6% in the fourth quarter. Tieton Capital Management LLC now owns 463,726 shares of the company's stock worth $6,520,000 after purchasing an additional 226,705 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 valued at $19,447,000 after buying an additional 167,782 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in Guess? during the fourth quarter valued at $2,349,000. 61.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GES has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Guess? from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Guess? in a research report on Friday, April 4th.

Guess? Stock Performance

GES stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $9.12. 216,959 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,237,056. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $11.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $469.29 million, a PE ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 1.43. Guess?, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.48 and a 52 week high of $27.41.

Guess? (NYSE:GES - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Guess? had a return on equity of 23.29% and a net margin of 3.19%. The firm had revenue of $932.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $916.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Guess?, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Guess? announced 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 buy up to 38.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.16%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. Guess?'s payout ratio is currently 187.50%.

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.