Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Position in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,516 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,574 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Guess? were worth $381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GES. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Guess? in the third quarter worth $267,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Guess? by 20.0% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 14,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,475 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Guess? by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Guess? by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Guess? during the 3rd quarter valued at $351,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

Guess? Stock Performance

Shares of GES opened at $25.97 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. Guess?, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.21 and a 52-week high of $33.50.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $891.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $855.54 million. Guess? had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 7.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Guess?, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.62%. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Guess? declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, April 1st that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 14.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Guess? in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Guess? from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on Guess? from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com raised Guess? from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Guess? from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Guess? has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Guess? news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 211,797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.32, for a total value of $6,421,685.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,499,668.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 41.00% of the company’s stock.

Guess? Company Profile

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.