Short Interest in Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) Grows By 6.3%

Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,550,000 shares, a growth of 6.3% from the March 15th total of 7,100,000 shares. Approximately 28.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.7 days.

Insider Activity at Guess?

In related news, CEO Carlos Alberini sold 138,203 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,131,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,546,984.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 41.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guess?

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Guess? by 266.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Guess? in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Guess? in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Guess? in the first quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Guess? by 27.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

Guess? Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Guess? stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $25.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 906,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,186,816. Guess? has a 1-year low of $17.21 and a 1-year high of $33.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.83 and a 200 day moving average of $24.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $891.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $855.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Guess? will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. Guess?’s payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GES has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Guess? from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Guess? from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. 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. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Guess? from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Guess? from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.