The Children’s Place, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

The Children’s Place, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,240,000 shares, a drop of 18.5% from the June 30th total of 2,750,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 909,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 44.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in Children’s Place by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 8,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Children’s Place by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 3,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 753 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Children’s Place by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 999 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Children’s Place by 2,016.3% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 4,335 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Children’s Place during the fourth quarter worth about $137,000.

Children’s Place Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLCE traded down $0.36 on Tuesday, hitting $8.04. The company had a trading volume of 223,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,169,855. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $102.17 million, a PE ratio of -0.65 and a beta of 2.18. Children’s Place has a 52-week low of $6.58 and a 52-week high of $38.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $9.27 and a 200 day moving average of $12.91.

Children’s Place (NASDAQ:PLCE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 12th. The company reported ($1.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.05) by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $267.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $327.38 million. Children’s Place had a negative net margin of 10.56% and a negative return on equity of 233.44%. Children’s Place’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($2.12) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Children’s Place will post -0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLCE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Children’s Place from $24.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $9.00 price target on shares of Children’s Place in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. B. Riley upgraded Children’s Place from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $7.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Children’s Place from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.50.

Children’s Place Company Profile

The Children's Place, Inc operates as a children's specialty apparel retailer in North America. It operates through two segments, The Children's Place U.S. and The Children's Place International. The company offers apparel, footwear, accessories, and other items for children and tweens; and designs, contracts to manufacture, and sells merchandise under the proprietary The Children's Place, Place, Baby Place, Gymboree, Sugar & Jade, and PJ Place brand names.