VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) Short Interest Update

VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 24,980,000 shares, a decline of 15.2% from the December 31st total of 29,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,310,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days. Currently, 6.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

VF Stock Performance

VF stock traded down $1.35 during trading on Monday, hitting $24.62. The stock had a trading volume of 8,647,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,896,939. The stock has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.44 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $22.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.86. VF has a 1 year low of $11.00 and a 1 year high of $29.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31.

VF (NYSE:VFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The textile maker reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that VF will post 0.65 EPS for the current year.

VF Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. VF’s dividend payout ratio is presently -30.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in shares of VF by 1.8% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 3,663,341 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $73,084,000 after buying an additional 65,919 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of VF by 90.7% in the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 202,723 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,737,000 after purchasing an additional 96,442 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of VF in the third quarter worth about $640,000. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of VF in the fourth quarter worth about $1,878,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of VF by 40.1% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 107,700 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,149,000 after purchasing an additional 30,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on VFC. Citigroup boosted their price objective on VF from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on VF from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised VF from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. OTR Global raised VF from a “mixed” rating to a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on VF from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VF currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.47.

About VF

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.