Rip Road Capital Partners LP Increases Stake in Chewy, Inc. (NYSE:CHWY)

Rip Road Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Chewy, Inc. (NYSE:CHWY) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 158,194 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,776 shares during the quarter. Chewy comprises about 4.5% of Rip Road Capital Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Rip Road Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Chewy were worth $5,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its position in Chewy by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 288,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,670,000 after acquiring an additional 60,533 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its stake in Chewy by 210.0% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 426,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,278,000 after purchasing an additional 288,787 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Chewy by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 30,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 8,219 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Chewy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,536,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Chewy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,086,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Satish Mehta sold 71,365 shares of Chewy stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total value 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO David Reeder sold 7,863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $286,999.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $422,743. This trade represents a 40.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,605 shares of company stock worth $3,872,220 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CHWY. Seaport Res Ptn raised Chewy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Chewy in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Chewy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Chewy in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Chewy from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Chewy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.47.

Chewy Stock Performance

Chewy stock opened at $40.63 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.65, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.69. Chewy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.78 and a fifty-two week high of $41.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.61.

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

About Chewy

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.