Investors Buy Large Volume of Macy’s Call Options (NYSE:M)

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors bought 42,968 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 56% compared to the typical volume of 27,492 call options.

Macy’s Trading Up 5.2 %

NYSE M traded up $0.69 on Monday, reaching $13.77. The company had a trading volume of 4,995,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,200,821. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $14.72 and its 200-day moving average is $15.39. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Macy’s has a 52 week low of $12.60 and a 52 week high of $22.10.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released 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 business had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.76 billion. Macy’s had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. Equities analysts predict that Macy’s will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.1824 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.30%. This is a positive change from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macy’s

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the fourth quarter worth about $2,591,000. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of Macy’s during the fourth quarter worth about $177,000. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 23,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 6,266 shares in the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,296,000 after buying an additional 17,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,060,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,952,000 after buying an additional 122,749 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on M. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Macy’s from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Gordon Haskett lowered Macy’s from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Macy’s from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $14.00 price target on Macy’s in a report on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Macy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.56.

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.