LSV Asset Management Acquires 69,500 Shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES)

LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,447,889 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,500 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Guess? were worth $33,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GES. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Guess? by 266.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Guess? by 405.6% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Guess? by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management grew its stake in Guess? by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Guess? during the 3rd quarter worth $201,000. Institutional investors own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

Guess? Stock Performance

Shares of GES stock opened at $26.71 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.45. Guess?, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.21 and a 12-month high of $33.50. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.46. Guess? had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 7.14%. The business had revenue of $891.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $855.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Guess?, Inc. will post 2.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Guess? Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 17th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. Guess?’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.38%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

GES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of Guess? in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on Guess? from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Guess? from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com raised Guess? from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Guess? has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Insider Activity at Guess?

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

Guess? Profile

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.