Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 276,047 Shares of Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M - Free Report) by 30.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 640,142 shares of the company's stock after selling 276,047 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Macy's worth $10,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Macy's in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Macy's during the first quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Macy's during the second quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Macy's during the second quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Macy's by 619.1% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 4,191 shares in the last quarter. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Macy's from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Macy's in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Argus upgraded Macy's to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Macy's in a report on Sunday, November 10th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Macy's currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.43.

Macy's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE M traded down $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.14. 4,372,495 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,257,497. Macy's, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.06 and a 52-week high of $22.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $15.42 and a 200-day moving average of $16.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.65 and a beta of 2.11.

Macy's (NYSE:M - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.23. Macy's had a return on equity of 23.14% and a net margin of 0.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Macy's, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Macy's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.1737 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. Macy's's dividend payout ratio is currently 107.81%.

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.