Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 944 Shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,838 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 944 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Guess? were worth $135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Guess? by 147.8% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,378,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,828,000 after acquiring an additional 822,089 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Guess? by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,035,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,417,000 after purchasing an additional 12,134 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Guess? by 4.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 836,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,103,000 after buying an additional 35,066 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Guess? during the third quarter worth $13,335,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Guess? by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 473,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,250,000 after buying an additional 46,035 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Guess?

In related news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 138,203 shares of Guess? stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.53, for a total value of $4,219,337.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,131,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,546,984.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 30.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GES has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Guess? from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Guess? from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Guess? in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on Guess? from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Guess? from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.00.

Guess? Price Performance

Guess? stock opened at $26.58 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.54. Guess?, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.21 and a 12 month high of $33.50. The company has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Guess? declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, April 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 16th. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.38%.

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.