VF (NYSE:VFC) Shares Up 5.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) shot up 5.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $22.79 and last traded at $22.72. 2,011,755 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 3,776,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of VF from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on VF in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “hold” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on VF in a report on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded VF from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $16.00 to $15.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of VF from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, VF currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.11.

VF Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a PE ratio of -13.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86.

VF (NYSE:VFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The textile maker reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. VF had a positive return on equity of 12.53% and a negative net margin of 6.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that VF Corporation will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

VF Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. VF’s payout ratio is -20.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VF

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in VF by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,822,885 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $159,609,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589,852 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of VF by 1,365.2% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 727,148 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $9,816,000 after buying an additional 677,519 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in VF by 28.3% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 3,057,884 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $41,281,000 after buying an additional 673,979 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in VF by 3,350.1% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 486,082 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $6,562,000 after buying an additional 471,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in VF by 127.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 62,046 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $878,000 after acquiring an additional 286,878 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.84% of the company’s stock.

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.