V.F. (NYSE:VFC) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after Truist Financial upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $15.79, but opened at $16.67. Truist Financial now has a $20.00 price target on the stock. V.F. shares last traded at $16.0040, with a volume of 3,300,973 shares changing hands.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of V.F. from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of V.F. from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of V.F. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of V.F. from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of V.F. in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, V.F. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at V.F.

In other news, Director Richard Carucci bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $14.73 per share, with a total value of $294,600.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 356,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,247,046.95. This represents a 5.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bracken Darrell bought 32,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.98 per share, with a total value of $492,752.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,402,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,003,592.82. The trade was a 2.40% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting V.F.

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

• Positive Sentiment: Truist upgraded VFC to Buy from Hold and set a $20 price target, implying meaningful potential upside from recent trading levels. The firm’s call is helping drive renewed optimism around V.F.’s turnaround. Truist upgrades V.F. to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler upgraded VFC to Overweight from Neutral, adding to the bullish analyst momentum surrounding the stock. Piper Sandler upgrades V.F.
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays expressed optimism that V.F.’s turnaround remains undervalued. The view suggests investors may be underappreciating the company’s recovery potential and improving earnings outlook. Barclays optimism on V.F.’s turnaround
• Positive Sentiment: Recent share-price strength occurred alongside above-average volume and favorable earnings-estimate revision trends, which may support continued momentum if the company delivers on its restructuring and brand-recovery plans. Zacks analysis of V.F. strength
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its rating to Neutral from Underweight, reducing a prior bearish overhang but stopping short of recommending the shares. JPMorgan upgrades V.F. to Neutral
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel maintained a Hold rating, while broader sell-side coverage still characterizes VFC as a Hold. This signals that analysts remain cautious about execution, profitability and the durability of the turnaround. Stifel maintains Hold rating on V.F.

Institutional Trading of V.F.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of V.F. during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,038,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in shares of V.F. by 298.1% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,782,904 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $29,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,057 shares during the period. Varenne Capital Partners acquired a new position in shares of V.F. in the 2nd quarter valued at $13,671,000. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of V.F. in the 2nd quarter worth $3,913,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of V.F. in the 1st quarter worth $3,209,000. 86.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

V.F. Trading Up 2.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.02 and a 200 day moving average of $16.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.56.

V.F. (NYSE:VFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The textile maker reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.05). V.F. had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 18.91%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.24) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that V.F. Corporation will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

V.F. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. V.F.’s dividend payout ratio is 52.17%.

V.F. Company Profile

V.F. Corporation (NYSE: VFC) is a global apparel, footwear and accessories company. Its portfolio includes well-known outdoor, active and workwear brands such as The North Face, Vans, Timberland and Dickies, which offer products ranging from outdoor clothing and hiking footwear to casual apparel, skate shoes and workwear.

The company sells its products through wholesale customers, brand-operated stores, e-commerce platforms and other digital channels. V.F. serves consumers in markets worldwide, with operations and distribution spanning North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international regions.

Founded in 1899 as a manufacturer of gloves and mittens, the company later expanded into apparel and became known as Vanity Fair Mills before adopting the V.F.