Stock market investing: Macy’s results rise sharply

Macy’s Inc., New York symbol M, operates 850 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department stores in 45 states. It also sells goods over the Internet. Macy’s is one of the companies we cover in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter for U.S. stock market investing. In its 2012 first quarter, which ended April 30, 2011, the company’s earnings jumped 233.3%, to $0.30 a share from $0.09 a year earlier. That easily beat the consensus earnings estimate of $0.18 a share. Sales rose 5.7% in the quarter, to $5.9 billion from $5.6 billion. Same-store sales rose 5.4%. The company continues to benefit from its efforts to tailor its merchandise to local tastes, as well as strong demand for its private-label products. Macy’s is a dividend paying stock. The strong results prompted the company to double its quarterly dividend, to $0.10 a share from $0.05. The new annual rate of $0.40 yields 1.4%. We updated our stock market investing advice on Macy’s in our May 13, 2011 Wall Street Stock Forecaster hotline, which you can immediately view when you take a 1-month free trial to Wall Street Stock Forecaster. Click here to get started right away. (Note: If you are a current Wall Street Stock Forecaster subscriber, please click here to view Pat’s recommendation. Be sure to log in first.)

Jim is an associate editor at TSI Network. He is the lead reporter and analyst for The Successful Investor and Wall Street Stock Forecaster and a member of the Investment Planning Committee. Jim has held the Chartered Financial Analyst designation since 1992 and spent more than a decade at the Financial Post DataGroup before joining TSI Network. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto.