Lazard Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Movado Group Inc. $MOV

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Movado Group Inc. (NYSE:MOV) by 120.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 124,643 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 68,201 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Movado Group were worth $3,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOV. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Movado Group by 212.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 671,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,226,000 after purchasing an additional 456,727 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Movado Group by 153.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,458,000 after buying an additional 97,566 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Movado Group by 94.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 186,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,853,000 after buying an additional 90,578 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Movado Group by 14.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 636,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,712,000 after buying an additional 80,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Movado Group by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 255,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,851,000 after buying an additional 79,684 shares during the period. 72.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MOV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Northland Securities set a $35.00 price target on Movado Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Movado Group in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Movado Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Movado Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Movado Group Price Performance

Shares of Movado Group stock opened at $38.21 on Friday. Movado Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.78 and a 1-year high of $39.85. The company has a market capitalization of $843.59 million, a PE ratio of 27.29 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.40 and a 200-day moving average of $29.38.

Movado Group (NYSE:MOV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $142.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.12 million. Movado Group had a return on equity of 7.13% and a net margin of 4.70%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Movado Group Inc. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Movado Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. This is a boost from Movado Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Movado Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.29%.

About Movado Group

Movado Group, Inc is a global designer, manufacturer and distributor of watches and related jewelry products. The company’s portfolio encompasses both owned and licensed brands, offering a wide range of timepieces from luxury to accessible price points. Major owned brands include Movado, Concord, and Ebel, alongside newer acquisitions such as MVMT and Olivia Burton. In addition, Movado Group holds licensing agreements to produce watches under fashion names like Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, Lacoste and Scuderia Ferrari.

Movado Group’s product line spans classic dress watches, sport and dive models, fashion-forward designs and limited-edition collections.