Victoria's Secret & Co. (NYSE:VSCO) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Victoria's Secret & Co. (NYSE:VSCO - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $43.02, but opened at $45.83. Victoria's Secret & Co. shares last traded at $47.30, with a volume of 878,749 shares trading hands.

The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Victoria's Secret & Co. had a net margin of 2.25% and a return on equity of 44.06%. Victoria's Secret & Co.'s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.86) EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VSCO. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Victoria's Secret & Co. from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Victoria's Secret & Co. from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. from $33.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $23.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.64.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Victoria's Secret & Co.

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSCO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Victoria's Secret & Co. by 5.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 46,395 shares of the company's stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. by 172.1% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,959 shares of the company's stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 11,360 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 37,538 shares of the company's stock worth $663,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 39,400 shares of the company's stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Victoria's Secret & Co. by 16.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 652,439 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,529,000 after acquiring an additional 91,712 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.29% of the company's stock.

Victoria's Secret & Co. Trading Up 11.6 %

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $32.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.88 and a beta of 2.19.

Victoria's Secret & Co. Company Profile

Victoria's Secret & Co operates as a specialty retailer of women's intimate, and other apparel and beauty products worldwide. It offers bras, panties, lingerie, casual sleepwear, and athleisure and swim, as well as fragrances and body care; and loungewear, knit tops, activewear, and accessories and beauty under the Victoria's Secret, PINK, and Adore Me brands.