StockNews.com Downgrades Macy’s (NYSE:M) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Macy’s (NYSE:M) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Macy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Macy’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Macy’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.75.

Macy’s Price Performance

Shares of M opened at $14.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 24.72 and a beta of 2.06. Macy’s has a 1-year low of $13.66 and a 1-year high of $22.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.17.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. Macy’s had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. Macy’s’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Macy’s will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Macy’s

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $41,765,000 after purchasing an additional 118,626 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 195,880 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Macy’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $594,000. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Macy’s by 724.1% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 103,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,754,000 after acquiring an additional 91,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alerus Financial NA purchased a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,144,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Company Profile

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.