Macy’s (NYSE:M) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $13.55 and last traded at $13.48, with a volume of 312840 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $14.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on M. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Macy’s from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.14.

Macy’s Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07 and a beta of 2.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.25. Macy’s had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. Analysts expect that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.1824 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.59%. Macy’s’s payout ratio is 116.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Macy’s in the 4th quarter valued at $96,689,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Macy’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,775,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Macy’s by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,503,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,038,000 after acquiring an additional 2,812,151 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 1,230.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,387,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,415,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Macy’s by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 7,838,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627,572 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.