Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRN) Short Interest Update

Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRN) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 567,800 shares, a decrease of 19.0% from the February 13th total of 701,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 89,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.4 days. Currently, 7.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CTRN. StockNews.com upgraded Citi Trends from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Citi Trends in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Craig Hallum raised Citi Trends from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th.

Insider Activity at Citi Trends

In related news, Director Jonathan Duskin sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.44, for a total transaction of $317,280.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 33,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,990.24. This represents a 26.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citi Trends

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Citi Trends during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Citi Trends during the fourth quarter valued at about $85,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Citi Trends by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Citi Trends during the fourth quarter valued at about $105,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in Citi Trends by 111.3% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 8,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 4,250 shares in the last quarter.

Citi Trends Trading Down 4.1 %

CTRN opened at $21.26 on Thursday. Citi Trends has a 12-month low of $13.66 and a 12-month high of $29.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.07. The company has a market capitalization of $185.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.93 and a beta of 2.29.

Citi Trends (NASDAQ:CTRN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported ($1.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($1.73). Citi Trends had a negative return on equity of 14.43% and a negative net margin of 3.36%. The firm had revenue of $211.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 EPS.

About Citi Trends

Citi Trends, Inc operates as a value retailer of fashion apparel, accessories, and home goods. The company offers apparel, such as fashion sportswear and footwear for men and ladies, as well as apparel for kids, including newborns, infants, toddlers, boys, and girls; sleepwear, lingerie, and scrubs for ladies; and kids uniforms and accessories.