Macy’s (NYSE:M) Stock Price Down 15.9% – Here’s Why

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)’s stock price dropped 15.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $11.26 and last traded at $11.10. Approximately 3,378,997 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 6,054,961 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

M has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Wednesday. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Macy’s in a report on Friday, March 7th. Benchmark upgraded Macy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Macy’s from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.30.

Macy’s Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40 and a beta of 2.07.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.25. Macy’s had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. The firm had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.76 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.1824 dividend. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Tracy M. Preston sold 2,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $35,250.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,887.64. This trade represents a 37.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Antony Spring sold 3,124 shares of Macy’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total value of $42,923.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,746,623.20. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,751 shares of company stock worth $537,790 in the last quarter. 2.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macy’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Macy’s by 4.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,691,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,611,000 after acquiring an additional 195,880 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Macy’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $594,000. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Macy’s by 724.1% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 103,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 91,015 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 57.9% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 782,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,276,000 after acquiring an additional 286,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 1,076.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 178,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,027,000 after purchasing an additional 163,587 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.