Macy’s (NYSE:M) Upgraded by Benchmark to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Macy’s (NYSE:M) was upgraded by Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

M has been the topic of several other reports. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. StockNews.com raised Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Argus raised Macy’s to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Macy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.75.

Macy’s Price Performance

NYSE M opened at $14.88 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21 and a beta of 2.06. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $15.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.75. Macy’s has a 1 year low of $13.66 and a 1 year high of $22.10.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 11th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Macy’s will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Macy’s

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barington Capital Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Macy’s by 550.0% during the third quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. now owns 650,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,198,000 after purchasing an additional 550,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,314,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,116,000 after buying an additional 419,261 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Macy’s by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 3,512,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,461,000 after buying an additional 411,412 shares during the last quarter. Lind Value II ApS purchased a new position in shares of Macy’s in the fourth quarter worth about $6,733,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in Macy’s by 57.9% during the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.