Short Interest in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) Drops By 5.2%

Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,900,000 shares, a decline of 5.2% from the May 31st total of 9,390,000 shares. Currently, 32.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.8 days.

Guess? Stock Up 1.5 %

Guess? stock opened at $19.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Guess? has a 1-year low of $17.92 and a 1-year high of $33.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $23.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.78.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $591.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $574.64 million. Guess? had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 26.92%. Guess?’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.07) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Guess? will post 2.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Guess? declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, April 1st that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.02%. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 138,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.53, for a total transaction of $4,219,337.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,131,575 shares in the company, valued at $34,546,984.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 30.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Guess? during the first quarter worth $3,481,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Guess? during the first quarter worth $717,000. EMC Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Guess? by 10.0% during the first quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Guess? by 73.8% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 21,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 9,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Guess? during the first quarter worth $1,246,000. 61.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have 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. StockNews.com lowered Guess? from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. UBS Group cut their price target on Guess? from $32.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Guess? in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Guess? presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.25.

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.