Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $75.59, but opened at $80.10. Five Below shares last traded at $80.30, with a volume of 1,501,686 shares trading hands.

The specialty retailer reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.10. Five Below had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 18.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FIVE shares. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Five Below from $120.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Five Below from $88.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lowered their price objective on Five Below from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho raised their target price on Five Below from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Five Below from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Five Below presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Five Below news, CAO Eric M. Specter sold 5,494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.76, for a total value of $498,635.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 57,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,197,552.92. The trade was a 8.75 % 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 hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Five Below

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FIVE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Five Below by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,047,563 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $529,792,000 after purchasing an additional 43,537 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Five Below by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,420,083 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $254,012,000 after buying an additional 86,271 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Five Below by 86.0% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,320,212 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $243,529,000 after buying an additional 1,072,642 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Five Below by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,662,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $146,865,000 after buying an additional 31,520 shares during the period. Finally, Steadfast Capital Management LP bought a new position in Five Below during the fourth quarter worth about $123,601,000.

Five Below Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.11.

About Five Below

Five Below, Inc operates as a specialty value retailer in the United States. The company offers range of accessories, which includes novelty socks, sunglasses, jewelry, scarves, gloves, hair accessories, athletic tops and bottoms, and t-shirts, as well as nail polish, lip gloss, fragrance, and branded cosmetics; and personalized living space products, such as lamps, posters, frames, fleece blankets, plush items, pillows, candles, incense, lighting, novelty décor, accent furniture, and related items, as well as provides storage options.