Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. Acquires Shares of 10,998 Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Guess? by 10.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 473,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,250,000 after acquiring an additional 46,035 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Guess? during the third quarter worth about $1,128,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in Guess? by 79.6% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 344,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,458,000 after acquiring an additional 152,788 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Guess? during the third quarter worth about $495,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Guess? during the third quarter worth about $321,000. 61.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Guess? Price Performance

Shares of GES traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.94. The company had a trading volume of 851,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,201,960. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.20. 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 1-year low of $17.21 and a 1-year high of $33.50. The company has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 1.98.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $891.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $855.54 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Guess?, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

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

Guess? Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.63%. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $4,219,337.59. Following the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 41.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

About Guess?

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.