Macy’s – less ‘Group’ -- brand to extend to stock symbol ‘M’

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 3/28/2007 10:50:00 AM

New York– In branding, there is something to be said for keeping things simple. Pending shareholder approval of its corporate name change to Macy’s Inc., Federated Department Stores will begin trading under the ticker symbol "M" on the New York Stock Exchange, effective June 1. The final approval vote is set for the company’s annual meeting on May 18.

The Federated board of directors has decided that instead of the previously announced Macy’s Group, Inc., the company should simplify its corporate name to Macy’s, Inc. This decision is supported by the availability of the “M” stock ticker symbol, the company said.

Single-letter ticker symbols are a prestige offered by stock exchanges. For years, the NYSE offered the letter “M” to Microsoft in an effort to woo the big tech leader away from Nasdaq, where it trades under the “MSFT” ticker symbol. Federated's shares have traded under the ticker symbol "FD" since 1992.