Analysts Set Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) Target Price at $18.56

Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.78.

Several research analysts have commented on M shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Macy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Macy’s from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Macy’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Macy’s Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of M opened at $16.03 on Friday. Macy’s has a 12-month low of $14.06 and a 12-month high of $22.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 27.17 and a beta of 2.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $16.18 and its 200 day moving average is $16.22.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.03). Macy’s had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. Macy’s’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Macy’s will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.1737 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macy’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of M. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Macy’s by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,661,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,765,000 after buying an additional 118,626 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Macy’s by 4.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,691,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,611,000 after acquiring an additional 195,880 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $594,000. Alerus Financial NA purchased a new stake in shares of Macy’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,144,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Macy’s by 57.9% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 782,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,276,000 after purchasing an additional 286,879 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Macy’s Company Profile

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.