Royce & Associates LP Purchases 25,000 Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,445,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.52% of Macy’s worth $24,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Macy’s by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 45,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 4th quarter worth $115,000. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Macy’s by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 545,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,235,000 after buying an additional 6,100 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Macy’s by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 72,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,000 after buying an additional 8,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Macy’s by 43.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 21,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 6,530 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Macy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $14.00 in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $14.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Macy’s in a report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Macy’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.56.

Macy’s Trading Down 4.1 %

NYSE:M opened at $13.09 on Monday. Macy’s, Inc. has a one year low of $12.60 and a one year high of $22.10. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.18 and a beta of 2.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.39.

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

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.1824 per share. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Macy’s’s payout ratio is currently 35.44%.

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.