Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE) Short Interest Up 8.5% in December

Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in 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 presently 2.4 days. Currently, 8.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Five Below

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Five Below in the 4th quarter worth $3,407,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Five Below by 156.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 334 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Five Below in the 4th quarter worth $241,000. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Five Below by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Five Below by 691.8% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 25,297 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,655,000 after buying an additional 22,102 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Five Below from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Five Below in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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 lifted their target price on shares of Five Below from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Five Below from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Five Below currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.75.

Five Below Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of Five Below stock traded down $2.19 on Monday, reaching $90.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,526,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,436,047. 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. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.53. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The specialty retailer reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $843.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $801.48 million. Five Below had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 7.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Five Below will post 4.92 EPS for the current year.

About Five Below

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.