Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:OLLI) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:OLLI) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,870,000 shares, a decrease of 15.3% from the March 15th total of 3,390,000 shares. Approximately 4.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,160,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on OLLI shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $111.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet from $117.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ollie’s Bargain Outlet from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ollie’s Bargain Outlet from $108.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert Fisch sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.08, for a total value of $675,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,159 shares in the company, valued at $2,394,944.72. This trade represents a 22.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert F. Helm sold 2,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.50, for a total value of $232,732.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 3,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $421,848. This trade represents a 35.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,897 shares of company stock worth $4,227,970. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OLLI. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet by 173.8% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,644,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $509,671,000 after acquiring an additional 2,948,393 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet by 181.6% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,916,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,307,000 after buying an additional 1,235,994 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet during the fourth quarter valued at $80,741,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Ollie’s Bargain Outlet in the fourth quarter worth about $78,356,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ollie’s Bargain Outlet during the 4th quarter valued at $48,633,000.

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Price Performance

Shares of OLLI stock opened at $111.95 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.75. Ollie’s Bargain Outlet has a 1 year low of $70.17 and a 1 year high of $120.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.96.

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (NASDAQ:OLLI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). Ollie’s Bargain Outlet had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The company had revenue of $667.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $674.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ollie’s Bargain Outlet will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

About Ollie’s Bargain Outlet

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the retail of closeouts, excess inventory, and salvage merchandise. It offers overstocks, package changes, manufacturer refurbished goods, and irregulars. The company’s products include housewares, food, books and stationery, bed and bath, floor coverings, electronics and toys.