Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,320,000 shares, a growth of 8.5% from the December 15th total of 3,980,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,790,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 8.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on FIVE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Five Below from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on Five Below from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Five Below from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Craig Hallum raised their target price on Five Below from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Five Below from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Five Below by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 614,288 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $54,272,000 after buying an additional 180,902 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Five Below by 155.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 78,827 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,964,000 after acquiring an additional 47,940 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Five Below in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,282,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in Five Below by 364.2% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 25,830 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,282,000 after acquiring an additional 20,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Five Below by 72.8% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,815 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,927,000 after acquiring an additional 9,188 shares in the last quarter.

Five Below Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of FIVE stock opened at $90.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.14. Five Below has a 1-year low of $64.87 and a 1-year high of $212.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.66.

Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The specialty retailer reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.26. Five Below had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 18.03%. The business had revenue of $843.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $801.48 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Five Below will post 4.92 EPS for the current year.

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.