Short Interest in Xcel Brands, Inc (NASDAQ:XELB) Grows By 661.8%

Xcel Brands, Inc (NASDAQ:XELB) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 138,325 shares, an increase of 661.8% from the May 31st total of 18,158 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,766,569 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Xcel Brands from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XELB. DRW Securities LLC grew 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 worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 17,053 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Xcel Brands during the third quarter valued at $88,000. Finally, Potomac Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Xcel Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $441,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.55% of the company’s stock.

Xcel Brands Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ XELB opened at $1.76 on Friday. Xcel Brands has a 1 year low of $0.74 and a 1 year high of $2.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.65 million, a P/E ratio of -0.38 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $2.10 and its 200 day moving average is $1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Xcel Brands (NASDAQ:XELB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The textile maker reported ($0.42) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.64) by $0.22. Xcel Brands had a negative net margin of 361.04% and a negative return on equity of 83.71%. The business had revenue of $1.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Xcel Brands will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

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.