Xcel Brands, Inc (NASDAQ:XELB) Short Interest Down 85.7% in June

Xcel Brands, Inc (NASDAQ:XELB) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 19,848 shares, a decline of 85.7% from the June 15th total of 138,325 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 86,883 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xcel Brands

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DRW Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Xcel Brands by 98.1% during the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 34,434 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 17,053 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Xcel Brands during the third quarter worth about $88,000. Finally, Potomac Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Xcel Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $441,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded Xcel Brands from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.00.

Xcel Brands Trading Down 8.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:XELB traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $1.49. 25,040 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 189,190. Xcel Brands has a 1 year low of $0.74 and a 1 year high of $2.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.72. The firm has a market cap of $9.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Xcel Brands (NASDAQ:XELB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The textile maker reported ($0.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.22. Xcel Brands had a negative return on equity of 83.71% and a negative net margin of 361.04%.The company had revenue of $1.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Xcel Brands will post -1.41 EPS for the current year.

About Xcel Brands

Xcel Brands, Inc (NASDAQ: XELB) is a lifestyle brand management company that acquires, develops and markets consumer product brands spanning fashion, entertainment and home categories. The company works with designers, celebrities and entertainment properties to create branded apparel, accessories, jewelry and home décor collections. Its portfolio includes licensed and proprietary brands such as Judith Ripka, Isaac Mizrahi and Simple Joys by Carter’s, among others.

The company’s business model centers on sourcing creative talent and intellectual property, then leveraging an in-house product development team to design collections that are manufactured by third-party partners.