Guess? (NYSE:GES) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 1,773,383 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 53% from the previous session’s volume of 1,160,927 shares.The stock last traded at $24.60 and had previously closed at $25.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Guess? Stock Down 1.0 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $26.77 and its 200-day moving average is $24.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.47 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? (NYSE:GES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.46. Guess? had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm had revenue of $891.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $855.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Guess?, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Investors 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 4.85%. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Guess? news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 211,797 shares of Guess? stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.32, for a total transaction of $6,421,685.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,499,668.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 41.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guess?

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Guess? by 266.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Guess? during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Guess? during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Guess? during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Guess? by 732.9% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 2,470 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.74% 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.