Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) Given “Outperform” Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $42.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CHWY. Mizuho upgraded shares of Chewy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Chewy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas downgraded Chewy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Chewy from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Chewy in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chewy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.68.

Chewy Stock Performance

Shares of CHWY opened at $32.20 on Thursday. Chewy has a fifty-two week low of $14.69 and a fifty-two week high of $40.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.21. The stock has a market cap of $13.11 billion, a PE ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.23.

Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.25. Chewy had a return on equity of 24.47% and a net margin of 3.51%. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Chewy will post 0.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Chewy

In other Chewy news, CTO Satish Mehta sold 71,365 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total transaction of $2,540,594.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 262,853 shares in the company, valued at $9,357,566.80. This trade represents a 21.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO David Reeder sold 307,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.48, for a total value of $11,527,273.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 546,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,473,712.36. This represents a 36.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,083,269 shares of company stock worth $290,611,129. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in Chewy in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Chewy by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Chewy by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Chewy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Chewy in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chewy Company Profile

Chewy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the pure play e-commerce business in the United States. It provides pet food and treats, pet supplies and pet medications, and other pet-health products, as well as pet services for dogs, cats, fish, birds, small pets, horses, and reptiles through its retail websites and mobile applications.