VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) Short Interest Down 15.2% in January

VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of 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. Currently, 6.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 6,310,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its stake in VF by 1.8% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 3,663,341 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $73,084,000 after buying an additional 65,919 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in shares of VF by 90.7% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 96,442 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of VF in the 3rd quarter valued at about $640,000. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of VF during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,878,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 86.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VFC. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on VF from $14.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of VF from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of VF from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of VF from $17.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of VF in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.47.

VF Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VFC traded down $0.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $25.99. 5,502,368 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,107,785. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. VF has a 1-year low of $11.00 and a 1-year high of $29.02. The company has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.41 and its 200-day moving average is $19.79.

VF (NYSE:VFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The textile maker reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.28. VF had a positive return on equity of 15.35% and a negative net margin of 4.63%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that VF will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

VF Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. VF’s dividend payout ratio is -30.25%.

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.