Xcel Brands, Inc (NASDAQ:XELB) Short Interest Down 26.9% in April

Xcel Brands, Inc (NASDAQ:XELB) saw a significant decrease in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 43,104 shares, a decrease of 26.9% from the March 31st total of 58,938 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 43,181 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Xcel Brands Trading Up 3.1%

XELB stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $2.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,252. Xcel Brands has a 52 week low of $0.74 and a 52 week high of $3.17. The stock has a market cap of $12.92 million, a PE ratio of -0.40 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.44.

Xcel Brands (NASDAQ:XELB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The textile maker reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.09. Xcel Brands had a negative net margin of 353.53% and a negative return on equity of 65.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.69) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Brands will post -1.34 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xcel Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. DRW Securities LLC boosted its stake in Xcel Brands by 98.1% in the fourth quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 34,434 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 17,053 shares during the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Xcel Brands in the third quarter worth $88,000. Finally, Potomac Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Xcel Brands in the fourth quarter worth $441,000. 18.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Xcel Brands in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.00.

About Xcel Brands

Xcel Brands, Inc (NASDAQ: XELB) is a lifestyle brand management company that acquires, develops and markets consumer product brands spanning fashion, entertainment and home categories. The company works with designers, celebrities and entertainment properties to create branded apparel, accessories, jewelry and home décor collections. Its portfolio includes licensed and proprietary brands such as Judith Ripka, Isaac Mizrahi and Simple Joys by Carter’s, among others.

The company’s business model centers on sourcing creative talent and intellectual property, then leveraging an in-house product development team to design collections that are manufactured by third-party partners.