VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,510,000 shares, a decrease of 23.7% from the March 15th total of 29,490,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 8,970,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 6.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VF

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CKW Financial Group boosted its stake in VF by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 2,200 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of VF by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 6,017 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 3,008 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in VF during the 1st quarter worth approximately $350,000. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. bought a new position in VF in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,878,000. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its stake in VF by 16.4% in the first quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 298,596 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $4,634,000 after acquiring an additional 42,065 shares during the period. 86.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VFC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on VF from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on VF from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of VF from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of VF from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of VF from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.35.

VF Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of VF stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $10.33. The company had a trading volume of 2,361,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,721,979. The firm has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of -8.68, a P/E/G ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.00. VF has a fifty-two week low of $9.41 and a fifty-two week high of $29.02.

VF (NYSE:VFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The textile maker reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that VF will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

VF Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. VF’s payout ratio is -30.25%.

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.