VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 29,490,000 shares, a growth of 29.6% from the February 28th total of 22,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days. Currently, 8.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VF

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its position in shares of VF by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 3,874,781 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $83,153,000 after buying an additional 211,440 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group lifted its holdings in VF by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 2,200 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of VF in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,878,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in shares of VF by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 6,017 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its position in shares of VF by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 256,531 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $5,505,000 after purchasing an additional 16,431 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of VF from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of VF from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (up from $20.00) on shares of VF in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on VF from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, OTR Global upgraded VF from a “mixed” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.67.

VF Stock Performance

VF stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.38. 5,180,090 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,611,837. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a PE ratio of -13.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.06. VF has a fifty-two week low of $11.00 and a fifty-two week high of $29.02.

VF (NYSE:VFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The textile maker reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.28. VF had a negative net margin of 4.63% and a positive return on equity of 14.86%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that VF will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

VF Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. VF’s payout ratio is -30.25%.

VF Company Profile

VF Corp. engages in the business of producing and marketing apparel, footwear, and accessories. It operates through the following segments: Outdoor, Active, Work, and Other. The Outdoor segment includes authentic outdoor-based lifestyle brands such as performance-based and outdoor apparel, footwear, and equipment.