StockNews.com Downgrades Macy’s (NYSE:M) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Macy’s (NYSE:M) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

M has been the topic of several other reports. Gordon Haskett upgraded Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Macy’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Macy’s to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.56.

Macy’s Trading Up 7.6 %

Shares of NYSE:M opened at $18.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 2.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $15.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.34. Macy’s has a 1 year low of $14.06 and a 1 year high of $22.10.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.03). Macy’s had a net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Macy’s will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.1737 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macy’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of M. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,661,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,765,000 after buying an additional 118,626 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Macy’s by 4.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,691,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,611,000 after acquiring an additional 195,880 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $594,000. Alerus Financial NA acquired a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,144,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 57.9% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 782,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,276,000 after purchasing an additional 286,879 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Company Profile

Macy's, Inc, an omni-channel retail organization, operates stores, websites, and mobile applications in the United States. The company sells a range of merchandise, such as apparel and accessories for men, women, and kids; cosmetics; home furnishings; and other consumer goods under the Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and bluemercury brands.