Yousif Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) by 20.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,427 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,747 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Guess? were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Guess? by 388.9% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 62,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 49,675 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Guess? by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 30,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 2,704 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Guess? by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 258,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,960,000 after purchasing an additional 10,883 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Guess? by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Guess? during the fourth quarter worth $316,000. Institutional investors own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Guess?

In other news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 138,203 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.53, for a total transaction of $4,219,337.59. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,131,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,546,984.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 30.30% of the company’s stock.

Guess? Price Performance

NYSE:GES opened at $27.18 on Tuesday. Guess?, Inc. has a one year low of $17.21 and a one year high of $33.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 1.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.49.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.46. Guess? had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $891.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $855.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Guess?, Inc. will post 2.91 EPS for the current year.

Guess? announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, April 1st that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Guess? Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 16th. Guess?’s payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.