Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL) Short Interest Up 12.6% in December

Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,590,000 shares, an increase of 12.6% from the December 15th total of 2,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 829,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 4.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Jennifer Vecchio sold 494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.95, for a total value of $140,765.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 59,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,936,573.15. This represents a 0.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Burlington Stores

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BURL. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in Burlington Stores by 148.6% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 92 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Burlington Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Burlington Stores in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Burlington Stores by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Burlington Stores by 391.7% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BURL. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Burlington Stores from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group raised Burlington Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $280.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Burlington Stores from $334.00 to $339.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut Burlington Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Burlington Stores from $313.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.87.

Burlington Stores Stock Performance

BURL stock traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $290.46. The stock had a trading volume of 415,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 584,832. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.87. The stock has a market cap of $18.44 billion, a PE ratio of 39.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.63. Burlington Stores has a 52-week low of $174.64 and a 52-week high of $298.89.

Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. Burlington Stores had a return on equity of 47.52% and a net margin of 4.49%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Burlington Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Burlington Stores will post 7.93 EPS for the current year.

About Burlington Stores

Burlington Stores, Inc operates as a retailer of branded merchandise in the United States. The company provides fashion-focused merchandise, including women's ready-to-wear apparel, menswear, youth apparel, footwear, accessories, toys, gifts, and coats, as well as baby, home, and beauty products.