V.F. (NYSE:VFC) Stock Sees Unusually High Put Option Buying

V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 20,957 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 49% compared to the average volume of 14,060 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VFC shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of V.F. in a report on Monday, October 26th. UBS Group set a $17.00 price objective on V.F. in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Truist Financial raised V.F. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $14.00 to $20.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of V.F. in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on V.F. from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.33.

Insider Activity at V.F.

In other news, Director Richard Carucci acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $14.73 per share, for a total transaction of $294,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 356,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,247,046.95. The trade was a 5.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VFC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in V.F. in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,038,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in V.F. by 298.1% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,782,904 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $29,739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,057 shares in the last quarter. Varenne Capital Partners acquired a new stake in shares of V.F. in the second quarter valued at approximately $13,671,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of V.F. by 242.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 765,146 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $10,758,000 after acquiring an additional 541,627 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC grew its position in V.F. by 8.1% in the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 683,925 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $9,616,000 after acquiring an additional 51,483 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.84% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting V.F.

Here are the key news stories impacting V.F. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: V.F. beat second-quarter expectations, reporting adjusted earnings of $0.70 per share versus the $0.54 consensus and revenue of $2.70 billion versus estimates of $2.66 billion. Management reaffirmed its outlook, while Timberland, The North Face and Altra performed well. V.F. Corp beats FQ2 estimates as Vans weakness continues
• Positive Sentiment: Margin recovery is becoming a key investment catalyst. The earnings coverage highlighted improving profitability and a return to growth in Vans direct-to-consumer sales for the first time in five years, suggesting turnaround initiatives may be gaining traction. V.F. Stock Climbs As Q2 Results Sharpen Margin Recovery
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG reaffirmed a “Buy” rating, and several analysts raised their forecasts or price targets after the strong quarter. The company also maintained its quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, providing an annualized yield of approximately 2.1%. V.F. Stock Rating Reaffirmed as Buy by BTIG Research
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment improved but remains cautious. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded VFC from “underperform” to “neutral” and lifted its target to $16, while Robert W. Baird maintains “neutral” with a $16 target and Deutsche Bank maintains “hold” with a $19 target. These targets imply limited or negative upside from the current trading level. BNP Paribas upgrades VF to neutral from underperform
• Negative Sentiment: Vans remains a notable weakness despite early signs of stabilization, and unusually heavy put-option activity indicates that some traders are positioning for downside or increased volatility.

V.F. Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE VFC traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.28. The company had a trading volume of 8,494,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,201,394. The stock has a market cap of $7.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. V.F. has a 52 week low of $12.45 and a 52 week high of $22.27. The business’s 50-day moving average is $14.70 and its 200-day moving average is $16.96.

V.F. (NYSE:VFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The textile maker reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. V.F. had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Equities analysts expect that V.F. will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

V.F. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 10th. V.F.’s payout ratio is 39.13%.

V.F. Company Profile

V.F. Corporation, commonly known as VF Corporation, is a global apparel, footwear and accessories company. Its brand portfolio includes The North Face, Vans, Timberland, Dickies, JanSport, Smartwool, Icebreaker, Kipling, Eastpak and Napapijri. These brands serve outdoor, active, workwear, lifestyle and youth-oriented markets.

VF sells products through wholesale partners, company-operated retail stores, brand websites and other digital channels. Its offerings include jackets, outdoor and performance apparel, footwear, backpacks, luggage and workwear.