StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Macy’s (NYSE:M)

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Macy’s (NYSE:M) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Macy’s from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Macy’s from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. TD Cowen lowered Macy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Macy’s from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Macy’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.45.

Macy’s Price Performance

M stock opened at $19.01 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.38 and a beta of 2.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.16. Macy’s has a 12-month low of $10.54 and a 12-month high of $22.10.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Macy’s had a return on equity of 23.34% and a net margin of 0.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Macy’s will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total value of $60,656.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,937.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total value of $60,656.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,937.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Antony Spring sold 3,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total value of $62,361.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 228,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,639,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,424 shares of company stock worth $4,405,507. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Macy’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Macy’s by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,381,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,390,000 after purchasing an additional 2,645,577 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 260.8% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,547,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,577,000 after buying an additional 1,841,432 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Macy’s by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 544,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,322,000 after acquiring an additional 73,924 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Macy’s by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,287,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,173,000 after acquiring an additional 565,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Macy’s during the 4th quarter worth about $6,021,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

About Macy’s

Macy's, Inc, an omni-channel retail organization, operates stores, websites, and mobile applications in the United States. The company sells a range of merchandise, such as apparel and accessories for men, women, and kids; cosmetics; home furnishings; and other consumer goods under the Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and bluemercury brands.