Macy’s (NYSE:M) Issues Q1 Earnings Guidance

Macy’s (NYSE:M) issued an update on its first quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $0.12-$0.15 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $0.14. The company issued revenue guidance of $4.4-4.5 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $4.40 billion.

Macy’s Stock Performance

M opened at $12.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.62 and a beta of 2.07. Macy’s has a 1-year low of $12.48 and a 1-year high of $20.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.26.

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

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.1824 dividend. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.69%. Macy’s’s payout ratio is presently 35.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

M has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $14.00 target price on Macy’s in a report on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Macy’s from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Macy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $19.00 to $14.00 in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Macy’s from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Macy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Macy’s news, CEO Antony Spring sold 3,124 shares of Macy’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total value of $42,923.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 272,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,746,623.20. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Tracy M. Preston sold 2,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $35,250.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,887.64. The trade was a 37.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,751 shares of company stock valued at $537,790 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.77% of the company’s stock.

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.