Macy’s (NYSE:M) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Macy’s (NYSE:M) in a research note released on Wednesday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated a market perform rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Macy’s from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Macy’s from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Macy’s from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Macy’s from a sell rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $17.45.

Macy’s Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of M stock opened at $18.44 on Wednesday. Macy’s has a 12-month low of $10.54 and a 12-month high of $22.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $19.63 and its 200 day moving average is $17.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.84 and a beta of 2.15.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.47. Macy’s had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 23.34%. The company had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Macy’s will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.1737 per share. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 186.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total transaction of $60,656.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,937.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Macy’s news, EVP Danielle L. Kirgan sold 15,070 shares of Macy’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total value of $307,729.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 306,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,259,853.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paul Griscom sold 2,969 shares of Macy’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.43, for a total transaction of $60,656.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,436 shares in the company, valued at $437,937.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 218,424 shares of company stock worth $4,405,507 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Macy’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Macy’s by 241.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 4,711 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Macy’s by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cumberland Advisors Inc. now owns 116,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Macy’s by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 144,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,683,000 after buying an additional 19,377 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Macy’s by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 24,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 3,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Macy’s by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 48,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 3,961 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by 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.