Short Interest in VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) Rises By 29.6%

VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) saw a significant growth in short interest in 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. Currently, 8.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VF

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VFC. CKW Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of VF by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 2,200 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in VF by 100.0% in 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 during the last quarter. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. bought a new position in VF in the 4th quarter valued at $1,878,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased 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 valued at $5,505,000 after purchasing an additional 16,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its stake 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 worth $83,153,000 after purchasing an additional 211,440 shares during the period. 86.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

VF Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of VFC traded up $0.57 on Tuesday, reaching $16.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,014,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,621,508. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of -13.52, a PEG ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. VF has a twelve month low of $11.00 and a twelve month high of $29.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $21.98 and a 200-day moving average of $21.06.

VF (NYSE:VFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The textile maker reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.28. VF had a positive return on equity of 14.86% and a negative net margin of 4.63%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. Equities analysts predict that VF will post 0.73 EPS for the current year.

VF Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. VF’s payout ratio is currently -30.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VFC shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of VF in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on VF from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on VF from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus upgraded VF from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of VF in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.67.

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.