Children’s Place (NASDAQ:PLCE) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Children’s Place (NASDAQ:PLCE) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

PLCE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Children’s Place in a research report on Wednesday. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Children’s Place from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price target on shares of Children’s Place from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Children’s Place Stock Performance

PLCE stock opened at $19.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $238.49 million, a P/E ratio of -3.08 and a beta of 2.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.06. Children’s Place has a 52 week low of $14.27 and a 52 week high of $48.88.

Children’s Place (NASDAQ:PLCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 16th. The company reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by ($0.27). Children’s Place had a negative return on equity of 47.76% and a negative net margin of 4.75%. The firm had revenue of $480.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $465.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. Children’s Place’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Children’s Place will post -0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Children’s Place

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Children’s Place by 568.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 86,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,338,000 after purchasing an additional 73,565 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in Children’s Place by 1,004.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 6,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 6,317 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Children’s Place by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 2,694 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Children’s Place in the 3rd quarter valued at about $519,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Children’s Place in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,071,000. Institutional investors own 94.47% of the company’s stock.

About Children’s Place

The Children's Place, Inc operates as a children's specialty apparel retailer in North America. It operates through two segments, The Children's Place U.S. and The Children's Place International. The company offers apparel, footwear, accessories, and other items for children and tweens; and designs, contracts to manufacture, and sells merchandise under the proprietary The Children's Place, Place, Baby Place, Gymboree, Sugar & Jade, and PJ Place brand names.