Macy’s (NYSE:M) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Macy’s (NYSE:M) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Macy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Argus upgraded shares of Macy’s to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Macy’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.56.

Macy’s Price Performance

Macy’s stock opened at $17.54 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 29.73 and a beta of 2.10. Macy’s has a one year low of $14.06 and a one year high of $22.10.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Macy’s

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in M. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Macy’s by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,661,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,765,000 after acquiring an additional 118,626 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Macy’s by 4.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,691,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,611,000 after purchasing an additional 195,880 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Macy’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $594,000. Alerus Financial NA acquired a new position in shares of Macy’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,144,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 286,879 shares in 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.