Macy’s (NYSE:M) Trading 3.7% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)’s stock price shot up 3.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $17.49 and last traded at $17.45. 1,146,467 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 6,388,158 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on M. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Macy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Macy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.56.

Macy’s Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $15.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 30.24 and a beta of 2.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 11th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.03). Macy’s had a net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Macy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.1737 dividend. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Macy’s’s payout ratio is 116.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macy’s

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Macy’s by 1.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,185,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,162,000 after purchasing an additional 37,254 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Macy’s by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 213,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,094,000 after acquiring an additional 53,471 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 3.9% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 58,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after buying an additional 2,227 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Macy’s by 71.6% in the 2nd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 218,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,200,000 after acquiring an additional 91,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the second quarter worth approximately $387,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Macy’s

Macy's, Inc, an omni-channel retail organization, operates stores, websites, and mobile applications in the United States. The company sells a range of merchandise, such as apparel and accessories for men, women, and kids; cosmetics; home furnishings; and other consumer goods under the Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and bluemercury brands.