Forensic Analysis · General / Diversified · as of Jun 28, 2026
CALERES INC (CAL)
A forensic read on CALERES INC built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Grey Zone
Financial health
1.2
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
705.8
P / E (ttm)
0.1%
ROE
$453M
Market cap
2.25%
Dividend yield
CALERES INC earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 1.2, placing it in the Grey zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
0%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 0% and slipping from 20% — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
0% of revStock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 0% of revenue and 32% of free cash flow in FY2026 — about $0.38 per diluted share. Heavy — a large slice of 'free cash flow' is really being paid out in stock, so the true owner cash per share is well below the headline.
-6%Dividend — cut.The payout was CUT ~6% in FY2021 (from FY2020). It still returns some cash, but it is NOT the dependable, rising dividend an unbroken streak implies — weigh the cut when judging reliability.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-0.2%
Debt / Equity0.00x
Free Cash Flow$39.4M
Latest Revenue$2.76B
Return on Equity-1.1%
Revenue Growth YoY+1.3%
Go deeper — free with an account
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. An account adds the full interactive deep-dive on CALERES INC:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about CAL's filings — AI Q&A across the 10-K, 10-Qs & 8-Ks
🔒Interactive valuation — reverse-DCF sliders, Monte Carlo & scenario stress
🔒Calibrated 12-month price forecast, with the math shown