Yesterday's earnings beat from Tommy Hilfiger parent PVH (PVH) created a halo lift for sector peer Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE:HBI), which has extended this positive price action in today's trading -- up 1.2% at $17.93 -- pacing for its fourth day in the black. The stock is up 43.2% year-to-date, and back atop its 200-day moving average after a brief dip below this familiar area of support. What's more, HBI tends to shine next month, showing up on Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's list of best stocks to own in April.
Looking at the data, the clothing concern has ended the month higher 80% of the time over the past 10 years, averaging a gain of 10.8%. A similar move from where the stock currently sits would have HBI charting territory not seen since its early August bear gap.
The door is wide open for analysts upgrades, should the security extend its run higher. Currently only two "strong buy" ratings are on the table, while eight analysts have slapped HBI with a cautious "hold." Plus, the consensus 12-month target price of $19.15 is a measly 7% premium to current levels.
Short sellers are already starting to hit the exits, though, with short interest down 15.5% in the last two reporting periods. However, there's still plenty of room for more short covering. The 32.88 million shares currently sold short represents a solid 9% of the stock's available float, or nearly seven days' worth of trading, at HBI's average volume.
Some remaining shorts may be hedging with options against any additional upside risk. Over seven calls have been bought for every put on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) during the past two weeks, albeit amid low absolute volume. Plus, this ratio sits higher than 76% of all other readings from the past year. This means, there's been a healthier-than-usual appetite for calls over puts over late.