Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M – Get Rating) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.58.

M has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Macy’s from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Macy’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Macy’s from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 3rd.

Macy’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:M opened at $14.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.58, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.34. Macy’s has a 12 month low of $14.48 and a 12 month high of $25.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Macy’s (NYSE:M – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Macy’s had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 35.06%. The firm had revenue of $8.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Macy’s will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.1654 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. This is a boost from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macy’s

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of M. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Macy’s in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Macy’s in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Estabrook Capital Management raised its stake in Macy’s by 77.8% in the first quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 1,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Macy’s by 57.7% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Macy’s by 52.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.19% of the company’s stock.

About Macy’s

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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.