Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE) Short Interest Up 7.0% in September

Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,740,000 shares, an increase of 7.0% from the August 31st total of 4,430,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,160,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 8.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Five Below

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Five Below by 86.3% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 177 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Five Below by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 42,017 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $8,956,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in shares of Five Below by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 24,991 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,327,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in shares of Five Below during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $331,000. Finally, KBC Group NV acquired a new position in Five Below during the 4th quarter worth approximately $222,000.

Five Below Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FIVE opened at $89.53 on Wednesday. Five Below has a fifty-two week low of $64.87 and a fifty-two week high of $216.18. The company has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $80.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.22.

Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. The firm had revenue of $830.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $821.95 million. Five Below had a net margin of 7.57% and a return on equity of 18.16%. Research analysts predict that Five Below will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FIVE shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Five Below from $145.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Craig Hallum upgraded Five Below from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $108.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Five Below from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on shares of Five Below from $120.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Five Below from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.00.

Five Below Company Profile

Five Below, Inc operates as a specialty value retailer in the United States. The company offers range of accessories, which includes novelty socks, sunglasses, jewelry, scarves, gloves, hair accessories, athletic tops and bottoms, and t-shirts, as well as nail polish, lip gloss, fragrance, and branded cosmetics; and personalized living space products, such as lamps, posters, frames, fleece blankets, plush items, pillows, candles, incense, lighting, novelty décor, accent furniture, and related items, as well as provides storage options.