Guess?, Inc. Q4 Profit Surges, Beating View; Dividend Raised (GES)

in Gold Gold Investing Gold Investment by admin — March 18, 2010 6:01 am | no comments

Apparel maker Guess?, Inc. ( GES ) late Wednesday said its fourth quarter profit jumped more than 80% from last year, helped by higher sales, prompting the company to boost its quarterly dividend by 28%. The Los Angeles-based company reported fourth quarter net income of $86.6 million, or 93 cents per share, compared with $47.9 million, or 51 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time charges, adjusted profit was 96 cents per share. On average, Wall Street analysts expected a much lower profit of 82 cents per share. Revenue rose 14% from last year, to $642.0 million. Looking ahead, the company predicted first quarter earnings of 46 to 48 cents per share, which would meet or exceed analysts’ current estimates for 46 cents. Guess also boosted its quarterly dividend by 28%, to 16 cents per share. Guess shares rose $1.28, or +2.7%, in premarket trading Thursday. The Bottom Line Shares of GES will now have a dividend yield of 1.37%, based on the new higher dividend payout and last night’s closing stock price of $46.68. The stock has technical support in the $40-$41 price area. If the shares can firm up, we see overhead resistance around the $50-$54 price levels. Guess?, Inc. ( GES ) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars. Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks , as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here .