Macy’s (NYSE:M) Cut to Hold at Gordon Haskett

Gordon Haskett cut shares of Macy’s (NYSE:M) from an accumulate rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on M. StockNews.com raised shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Macy’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.00.

Macy’s Price Performance

M stock opened at $14.10 on Thursday. Macy’s has a one year low of $12.60 and a one year high of $22.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $15.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.89 and a beta of 2.07.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.76 billion. Macy’s had a net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 21.99%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Macy’s will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.1824 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.18%. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Macy’s in the fourth quarter worth about $2,591,000. Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in Macy’s in the fourth quarter worth about $177,000. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its stake in Macy’s by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 23,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 6,266 shares during the period. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Macy’s by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,296,000 after acquiring an additional 17,167 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Macy’s by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,060,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,952,000 after acquiring an additional 122,749 shares during the period. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Macy’s

Macy’s, Inc engages in the retail of apparel, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, and other consumer goods. The firm’s brands include Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bluemercury. It offers men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel, women’s accessories, intimate apparel, shoes, cosmetics, fragrances, as well as home and miscellaneous products.