Ascena Retail Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASNA) – Equities researchers at B. Riley dropped their Q2 2019 EPS estimates for shares of Ascena Retail Group in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, January 30th. B. Riley analyst S. Anderson now forecasts that the specialty retailer will earn ($0.25) per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of ($0.19). B. Riley currently has a “Neutral” rating on the stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Ascena Retail Group’s Q3 2019 earnings at $0.04 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $0.00 EPS.
ASNA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on Ascena Retail Group from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 11th. BidaskClub cut Ascena Retail Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 24th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Ascena Retail Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.75 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 7th. Finally, ValuEngine cut Ascena Retail Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. Ascena Retail Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.50.
ASNA stock opened at $2.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $478.79 million, a P/E ratio of -117.00 and a beta of 1.60. Ascena Retail Group has a fifty-two week low of $1.79 and a fifty-two week high of $5.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.45.
Ascena Retail Group (NASDAQ:ASNA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 10th. The specialty retailer reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Ascena Retail Group had a negative return on equity of 1.70% and a negative net margin of 0.61%. The firm’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ascena Retail Group by 1,572.3% in the fourth quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 82,846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 77,892 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Ascena Retail Group by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 518,987 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 85,936 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ascena Retail Group by 103.9% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 176,232 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 89,820 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Ascena Retail Group by 67.1% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 96,096 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 38,601 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Ascena Retail Group by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 267,565 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 17,085 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.65% of the company’s stock.
About Ascena Retail Group
Ascena Retail Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of apparel, shoes, and accessories for women and tween girls in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The company operates through four segments: Premium Fashion, Value Fashion, Plus Fashion, and Kids Fashion. It offers a range of merchandise, including apparel, accessories, footwear, and intimates; and lifestyle products comprising cosmetics and bedroom accessories.