Macy’s (NYSE:M) Stock Price Down 15.9% – Should You Sell?

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

M has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Benchmark raised Macy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $14.00 target price on Macy’s in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Macy’s from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.30.

Macy’s Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.17. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.18.

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

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.1824 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.43%. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.44%.

Insider Activity at Macy’s

In related news, EVP Tracy M. Preston sold 2,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $35,250.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,887.64. This represents a 37.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Adrian V. Mitchell sold 3,489 shares of Macy’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total value of $47,938.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 116,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,107.10. The trade was a 2.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,751 shares of company stock valued at $537,790 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Macy’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Macy’s by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Macy’s during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Macy’s by 495.5% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 2,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Macy’s in the fourth quarter worth $102,000. 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.