Children’s Place (NASDAQ:PLCE) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Children’s Place from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. B. Riley raised Children’s Place from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $7.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price objective on Children’s Place from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday.

Children’s Place Stock Performance

Children’s Place stock traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.88. 1,371,411 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,337,521. Children’s Place has a fifty-two week low of $6.58 and a fifty-two week high of $38.03. The stock has a market cap of $123.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.59 and a beta of 2.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.19.

Insider Activity at Children’s Place

In related news, major shareholder Mithaq Capital Spc bought 1,566,475 shares of Children’s Place stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.80 per share, with a total value of $24,750,305.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 4,663,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,687,139.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Children’s Place

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLCE. Mithaq Capital SPC raised its position in Children’s Place by 1,932.4% during the first quarter. Mithaq Capital SPC now owns 7,001,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,796,000 after purchasing an additional 6,656,894 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Children’s Place by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 311,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,229,000 after buying an additional 48,964 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Children’s Place by 181.3% in the third quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 150,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,071,000 after buying an additional 97,064 shares in the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Children’s Place by 80.3% in the first quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 129,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,496,000 after acquiring an additional 57,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Towerview LLC raised its stake in Children’s Place by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Towerview LLC now owns 84,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,950,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares in the last quarter.

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.