Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL) Short Interest Up 23.7% in December

Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, an increase of 23.7% from the November 30th total of 1,860,000 shares. Currently, 3.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 866,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Burlington Stores news, CMO Jennifer Vecchio sold 494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.89, for a total value of $145,181.66. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 59,931 shares in the company, valued at $17,613,121.59. This represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Burlington Stores

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BURL. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Burlington Stores by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,074,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,582,000 after acquiring an additional 18,160 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Burlington Stores by 1,048.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 730,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,478,000 after purchasing an additional 666,934 shares during the last quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Burlington Stores by 34.6% during the second quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP now owns 730,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,242,000 after buying an additional 187,760 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Burlington Stores by 2.2% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 663,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,246,000 after buying an additional 14,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Burlington Stores by 54.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 587,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,968,000 after buying an additional 207,959 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BURL. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Burlington Stores from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Burlington Stores from $334.00 to $339.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Burlington Stores from $313.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Burlington Stores from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Burlington Stores from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.00.

Burlington Stores Price Performance

Shares of BURL stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $284.50. 96,198 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 887,197. Burlington Stores has a 52-week low of $174.64 and a 52-week high of $298.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a PE ratio of 38.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $275.10 and a 200 day moving average of $262.40.

Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Burlington Stores had a return on equity of 47.52% and a net margin of 4.49%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Burlington Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Burlington Stores will post 7.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Burlington Stores Company Profile

Burlington Stores, Inc operates as a retailer of branded merchandise in the United States. The company provides fashion-focused merchandise, including women's ready-to-wear apparel, menswear, youth apparel, footwear, accessories, toys, gifts, and coats, as well as baby, home, and beauty products.