Xcel Brands, Inc (NASDAQ:XELB) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Xcel Brands, Inc (NASDAQ:XELB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 33,307 shares, an increase of 67.8% from the June 30th total of 19,848 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 73,264 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.5 days.

Institutional Trading of Xcel Brands

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DRW Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Brands by 98.1% during the fourth quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 34,434 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 17,053 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Xcel Brands during the third quarter valued at $88,000. Finally, Potomac Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Xcel Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $441,000. 18.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xcel Brands Stock Performance

Xcel Brands stock opened at $1.20 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.73. The company has a market cap of $7.26 million, a P/E ratio of -0.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Xcel Brands has a fifty-two week low of $0.74 and a fifty-two week high of $2.66.

Xcel Brands (NASDAQ:XELB) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 million. Xcel Brands had a negative net margin of 361.04% and a negative return on equity of 83.71%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Xcel Brands will post -1.41 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Xcel Brands from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Xcel Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.00.

Xcel Brands Company Profile

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.