Macy’s Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:M)

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 42,968 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 56% compared to the typical daily volume of 27,492 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on M shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Macy’s from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com raised Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Macy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Macy’s from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Benchmark raised Macy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.56.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macy’s

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,149,454 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,627,572 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,812,151 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Macy’s by 12.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the 4th quarter worth about $96,689,000. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Macy’s Stock Up 5.7 %

Shares of M stock opened at $13.82 on Tuesday. Macy’s has a one year low of $12.60 and a one year high of $22.10. 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 fifty day moving average price of $14.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.38. The stock has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.43 and a beta of 2.07.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Analysts predict that Macy’s will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.1824 per share. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.28%. 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. Macy’s’s payout ratio is presently 35.44%.

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.