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

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Five Below

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Five Below in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Five Below by 156.9% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 334 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Five Below during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Five Below during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Five Below by 63.5% in the 3rd quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 515 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp lowered Five Below from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Five Below from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Five Below from $106.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Five Below from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Five Below from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.75.

Five Below Stock Performance

Shares of FIVE opened at $90.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $99.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.40. Five Below has a 52 week low of $64.87 and a 52 week high of $212.01.

Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The specialty retailer reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $801.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Five Below’s revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Five Below will post 4.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.