Macy's: Firing On All Fronts (M)

Macy's, Inc. M shares are soaring 6% in pre-market trading after the company blew out earnings estimates, and doubled its quarterly dividend, as the company continues to show improvements, and confidence in the American consumer. The company reported first quarter earnings of 30 cents per share $5.89 billion in revenues. Wall Street analysts expected earnings of 17 cents per share on $5.82 billion in revenues. This is up from last year, when the company reported earnings of 5 cents per share. In addition to the strong earnings, the company doubled the quarterly dividend on Macy's common stock to 10 cents per share. The dividend of 10 cents per share is payable July 1, 2011, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 15, 2011. The company's previous dividend had been 5 cents per quarter. “We are building a culture of growth at Macy's, Inc. Our performance cannot be attributed to a single factor, but rather to the coordinated execution of a series of complementary customer-centric strategies. In the first quarter, we benefitted from strong topline sales, disciplined margin and expense management, improved credit performance and lower interest expense,” said Terry J. Lundgren, Macy's, Inc. chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Based on the strength, momentum and confidence in our business, we are doubling the dividend as a step in returning value directly to our shareholders,” Lundgren said. “Our confidence derives from our belief that we remain in the early innings of implementation of our current strategies – My Macy's localization, enhanced sales training, exclusive and differentiated merchandise, and omnichannel integration that positions Macy's and Bloomingdale's to serve customer needs seamlessly in stores, online and via mobile technology. We also are developing and testing a wide range of new ideas and innovations that will allow us to evolve with our customers and continue to improve our performance.” The company will hold a conference call at 10:30 a.m. to discuss the results. As was discussed yesterday, shares looked reasonably priced, and after the 6% hike this morning, shares are still reasonably priced. Macy's is trading around 10 times earnings, and has a 0.8% dividend yield. Terry Lundgren and team seem to be firing on all cylinders, and the "My Macy's" initiative is helping boost sales, and bring the consumer back to the company. At this best, all you can, is well done.