VF (NYSE:VFC) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $12.85, but opened at $12.49. VF shares last traded at $12.49, with a volume of 607,431 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VFC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on VF from $25.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on VF from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on VF from $28.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of VF in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on VF from $12.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VF currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $16.21.

VF Stock Down 2.0%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.67 and a 200 day moving average of $18.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.26, a PEG ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 1.68.

VF (NYSE:VFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The textile maker reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.01. VF had a positive return on equity of 14.86% and a negative net margin of 4.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.32) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that VF Corporation will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VF Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. VF's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -72.00%.

Insider Activity at VF

In other VF news, EVP Abhishek Dalmia acquired 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.78 per share, for a total transaction of $589,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 380,614 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,483,632.92. This represents a 15.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bracken Darrell acquired 85,840 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $11.73 per share, for a total transaction of $1,006,903.20. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 295,406 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,465,112.38. This trade represents a 40.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 185,840 shares of company stock valued at $2,198,403. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of VF

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VFC. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in VF by 1,355.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 404,405 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $6,276,000 after buying an additional 376,615 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its stake in VF by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 3,874,781 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $83,153,000 after buying an additional 211,440 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of VF by 11.0% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 928,753 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $14,414,000 after purchasing an additional 92,174 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of VF during the first quarter worth approximately $749,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of VF by 46.2% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 152,410 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 48,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.84% of the company's stock.

About VF

VF Corp. engages in the business of producing and marketing apparel, footwear, and accessories. It operates through the following segments: Outdoor, Active, Work, and Other. The Outdoor segment includes authentic outdoor-based lifestyle brands such as performance-based and outdoor apparel, footwear, and equipment.