Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Macy’s (NYSE:M) Stock Price

Macy’s (NYSE:M) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $17.00 to $16.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Macy’s to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Macy’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.38.

Macy’s Stock Performance

NYSE:M opened at $16.56 on Thursday. Macy’s has a 1 year low of $14.06 and a 1 year high of $22.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 28.07 and a beta of 2.10.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.03). Macy’s had a net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Macy’s will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Macy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.1737 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Macy’s’s payout ratio is 116.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macy’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. 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 period. PVG Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Macy’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $730,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Macy’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $221,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Macy’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $594,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Macy’s by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,023,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,110,000 after purchasing an additional 128,258 shares during the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Macy’s Company Profile

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.