Macy’s (NYSE:M) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $10.56 and last traded at $10.75, with a volume of 3981174 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on M shares. Benchmark upgraded shares of Macy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 research note on Thursday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Gordon Haskett downgraded Macy’s from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, New Street Research set a $13.00 target price on Macy’s in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.30.

Macy’s Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42 and a beta of 1.73. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.17.

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

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.1824 dividend. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Macy’s news, CEO Antony Spring sold 3,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total value of $42,923.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,746,623.20. This trade represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Adrian V. Mitchell sold 5,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.77, for a total transaction of $65,407.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,666,370.07. This trade represents a 3.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,751 shares of company stock valued at $537,790. Company insiders own 2.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macy’s

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,751,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,666,000 after buying an additional 1,149,454 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC lifted its holdings in Macy’s by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 7,838,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627,572 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Macy’s by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,503,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,038,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812,151 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Macy’s by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,137,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,832,000 after purchasing an additional 774,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Macy’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,689,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Company Profile

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.