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

V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC)’s share price gapped up before the market opened 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 traded.

VFC has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of V.F. in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of V.F. from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of V.F. from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of V.F. from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of V.F. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.92.

Insider Activity at V.F.

In related news, Director Richard Carucci acquired 20,000 shares of V.F. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.73 per share, with a total value of $294,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 356,215 shares in the company, valued at $5,247,046.95. This represents a 5.95% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bracken Darrell acquired 32,894 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.98 per share, with a total value of $492,752.12. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,402,109 shares in the company, valued at $21,003,592.82. This represents a 2.40% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key V.F. News

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 Investors Weigh In On V.F.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of V.F. during the second quarter worth about $42,038,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of V.F. by 298.1% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,782,904 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $29,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,057 shares during the last quarter. Varenne Capital Partners purchased a new stake in shares of V.F. in the second quarter worth approximately $13,671,000. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of V.F. in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,913,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its holdings in shares of V.F. by 343.7% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 212,198 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $3,539,000 after purchasing an additional 164,369 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.84% of the company’s stock.

V.F. Stock Up 2.4%

The company has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.56. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $14.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.19.

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

V.F. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. V.F.’s payout ratio is currently 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.