Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades VF (NYSE:VFC) to Equal Weight

VF (NYSE:VFC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $12.00 price objective on the textile maker's stock, down from their prior price objective of $18.00. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would suggest a potential downside of 6.03% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of VF from $23.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on VF from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays increased their target price on VF from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of VF in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded VF from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.40.

VF Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VFC traded up $0.61 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $12.77. 7,729,504 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,834,209. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. VF has a fifty-two week low of $9.41 and a fifty-two week high of $29.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.65. The firm has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a PE ratio of -10.73, a P/E/G ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 1.57.

VF (NYSE:VFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The textile maker reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.28. VF had a positive return on equity of 14.86% and a negative net margin of 4.63%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that VF will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of VF

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VFC. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 376,615 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in shares of VF by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 3,874,781 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $83,153,000 after purchasing an additional 211,440 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in VF by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 928,753 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $14,414,000 after buying an additional 92,174 shares during the period. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. acquired a new position in VF in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,878,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 48,151 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.