VF Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:VFC)

VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 21,123 call options on the company. This is an increase of 60% compared to the average volume of 13,237 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. OTR Global upgraded shares of VF from a “mixed” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of VF in a report on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim increased their price target on VF from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of VF from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on VF from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VF currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.90.

Institutional Trading of VF

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VFC. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in VF by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 3,874,781 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $83,153,000 after buying an additional 211,440 shares during the last quarter. CKW Financial Group lifted its holdings in VF by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 2,200 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. acquired a new stake in VF during the 4th quarter worth $1,878,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VF by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 6,017 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 3,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in shares of VF by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 256,531 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $5,505,000 after buying an additional 16,431 shares in the last quarter. 86.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VF Price Performance

NYSE:VFC traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $15.75. The stock had a trading volume of 4,444,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,252,770. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a PE ratio of -13.22, a PEG ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 1.46. VF has a 52 week low of $11.00 and a 52 week high of $29.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.19.

VF (NYSE:VFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The textile maker reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.28. VF had a positive return on equity of 14.86% and a negative net margin of 4.63%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that VF will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VF Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. VF’s payout ratio is currently -30.25%.

About VF

VF Corp. engages in the business of producing and marketing apparel, footwear, and accessories. It operates through the following segments: Outdoor, Active, Work, and Other. The Outdoor segment includes authentic outdoor-based lifestyle brands such as performance-based and outdoor apparel, footwear, and equipment.