Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Chewy, Inc. (NYSE:CHWY)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $33.61, but opened at $34.45. Chewy shares last traded at $33.04, with a volume of 6,614,334 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. Chewy had a return on equity of 24.47% and a net margin of 3.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Chewy in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Chewy from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Chewy in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Chewy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Chewy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chewy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chewy

In other news, CEO Sumit Singh sold 191,096 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.68, for a total value of $6,818,305.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 707,126 shares in the company, valued at $25,230,255.68. This represents a 21.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Argos Holdings Gp Llc sold 7,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.77, for a total transaction of $250,390,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,083,269 shares of company stock worth $290,611,129. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chewy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Chewy by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,484,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,093,000 after acquiring an additional 3,493,926 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Chewy by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,288,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,120,000 after buying an additional 1,293,428 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Chewy by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,489,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,345,000 after acquiring an additional 399,330 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Chewy by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,866,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243,981 shares during the period. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chewy by 5.3% during the third quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 2,765,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,014,000 after purchasing an additional 138,768 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Chewy Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $36.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.13. The company has a market cap of $13.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.23.

About Chewy

Chewy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the pure play e-commerce business in the United States. It provides pet food and treats, pet supplies and pet medications, and other pet-health products, as well as pet services for dogs, cats, fish, birds, small pets, horses, and reptiles through its retail websites and mobile applications.