Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $240.10.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on FIVE shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Five Below from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Five Below from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Five Below from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Five Below in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Five Below from $193.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th.

Five Below Stock Performance

FIVE opened at $230.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $226.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.69. Five Below has a 52-week low of $79.48 and a 52-week high of $251.63.

Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The specialty retailer reported $4.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.00 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Five Below had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 18.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.48 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Five Below will post 8.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Five Below

In other news, COO Kenneth R. Bull sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.14, for a total value of $2,341,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 92,531 shares in the company, valued at $21,665,208.34. This represents a 9.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ronald Sargent sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.28, for a total transaction of $2,312,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 83,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,352,122.72. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Five Below

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FIVE. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Five Below by 40,774,210.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 55,453,062 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $10,445,139,000 after acquiring an additional 55,452,926 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Five Below in the 4th quarter worth approximately $182,786,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Five Below by 176.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,168,832 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $220,161,000 after acquiring an additional 745,272 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Five Below by 397.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 819,502 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $126,777,000 after acquiring an additional 654,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Five Below by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,785,169 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $336,254,000 after acquiring an additional 630,710 shares in the last quarter.

Five Below Company Profile

Five Below, Inc (NASDAQ:FIVE) is an American specialty discount retailer offering a broad assortment of merchandise priced primarily at $5 or below. Since its founding in 2002 by David Schlessinger and Tom Vellios, the company has pursued a value-focused retail model targeting tweens, teens and beyond, with stores designed to deliver trend-driven products at an accessible price point. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Five Below has grown into a national chain operating in dozens of U.S.