Macy’s (NYSE:M) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Macy’s (NYSE:M) in a research note published on Wednesday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on M. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Macy’s from a sell rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a market perform rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Macy’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $17.45.

Macy’s Price Performance

Shares of M opened at $18.73 on Wednesday. Macy’s has a 1-year low of $10.54 and a 1-year high of $22.10. The stock has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 50.62 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.42.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.47. Macy’s had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 23.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. Macy’s’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Macy’s will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.1737 per share. This is a positive change from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 186.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Macy’s news, CEO Antony Spring sold 14,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.63, for a total value of $291,682.17. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 248,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,885,848.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Macy’s news, CFO Adrian V. Mitchell sold 13,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total value of $270,544.58. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,023,581.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Antony Spring sold 14,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.63, for a total transaction of $291,682.17. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 248,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,885,848.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 218,424 shares of company stock worth $4,405,507. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Macy’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of M. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Macy’s by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 43,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $866,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Macy’s by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. Glassman Wealth Services increased its stake in Macy’s by 154.5% in the fourth quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 1,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Macy’s by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Macy’s by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 140,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,820,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. 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.