Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 2,858 Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 638,586 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,858 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Macy’s were worth $8,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of M. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Macy’s during the fourth quarter worth $96,689,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Macy’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,775,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Macy’s by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,503,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,038,000 after acquiring an additional 2,812,151 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Macy’s by 1,230.8% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,387,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,415,000 after buying an additional 2,207,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC grew its position in shares of Macy’s by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 7,838,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,701,000 after buying an additional 1,627,572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on M shares. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $12.00 price objective (up from $11.00) on shares of Macy’s in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Macy’s from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on shares of Macy’s from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley restated a “negative” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Macy’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $17.00 to $12.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.20.

Macy’s Stock Performance

Shares of M opened at $12.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Macy’s, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.76 and a 52-week high of $18.13.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. Macy’s had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Macy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.1824 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.04%. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.06%.

Macy’s 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.