Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE) Short Interest Down 25.2% in March

Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,608,101 shares, a decrease of 25.2% from the February 26th total of 2,148,879 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 911,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Kenneth R. Bull sold 10,000 shares of Five Below stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.14, for a total transaction of $2,341,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 92,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,665,208.34. This trade represents a 9.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Eric M. Specter sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.15, for a total transaction of $1,709,775.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,197,382.60. This represents a 15.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 35,525 shares of company stock worth $7,789,754 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Five Below

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Five Below by 40,774,210.3% during 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. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Five Below by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,376,471 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $831,740,000 after acquiring an additional 69,101 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Five Below by 21.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,873,116 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $289,771,000 after purchasing an additional 332,615 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Five Below by 54.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,785,169 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $336,254,000 after purchasing an additional 630,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Five Below by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,508,393 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $284,121,000 after purchasing an additional 45,761 shares in the last quarter.

Five Below Stock Performance

Five Below stock traded up $4.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $224.35. 198,915 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,113,972. The firm has a market cap of $12.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.77, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $211.17 and a 200 day moving average of $182.10. Five Below has a 12-month low of $52.38 and a 12-month high of $237.50.

Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The specialty retailer reported $4.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Five Below had a return on equity of 18.70% and a net margin of 7.53%.The business’s revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.48 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Five Below will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on FIVE. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Five Below from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Five Below from $236.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Five Below from $259.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Evercore raised their price objective on Five Below from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $206.00 target price on shares of Five Below in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.86.

About Five Below

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.