Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Guess? (NYSE:GES)

Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 5,815 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 583% compared to the typical daily volume of 852 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guess?

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GES. Quarry LP increased its stake in Guess? by 216.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 2,299 shares during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management grew its position in shares of Guess? by 158.0% during the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 6,068 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in Guess? in the 4th quarter worth approximately $171,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Guess? during the 4th quarter valued at $175,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Guess? in the 4th quarter worth $191,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.74% of the company’s stock.

Guess? Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE GES traded down $0.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.06. 905,213 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,092,998. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.54. Guess? has a fifty-two week low of $10.04 and a fifty-two week high of $33.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $517.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 1.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $12.97 and its 200 day moving average is $16.58.

Guess? (NYSE:GES) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). Guess? had a return on equity of 23.29% and a net margin of 3.19%. The business had revenue of $738.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $747.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Guess? will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price target on Guess? from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Guess? from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Guess? has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

About Guess?

Guess?, Inc designs, markets, distributes, and licenses lifestyle collections of apparel and accessories for men, women, and children. It operates through five segments: Americas Retail, Americas Wholesale, Europe, Asia, and Licensing. The company’s clothing collection includes jeans, pants, skirts, dresses, shorts, blouses, shirts, jackets, activewear, knitwear, and intimate apparel.