Stocks On the Move: Ascena Retail Group Inc, G-III Apparel Group, Ltd., and Allegheny Technologies Incorporated

Retailer stocks Ascena Retail Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASNA) and G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GIII), as well as metal producer Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:ATI) are making big moves in today's trading

Dec 2, 2016 at 3:35 PM

U.S. stocks are heading lower, as traders look ahead to this weekend's Italian constitutional referendum. Among specific equities in focus today are retailer stocks Ascena Retail Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASNA) and G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GIII), as well as metal producer Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:ATI). Here's a quick look at what's driving ASNA, GIII, and ATI.

ASNA is up a whopping 21.2% at $7.06, after the company reported earnings last night. Though Ascena Retail Group Inc's per-share earnings fell shy of estimates, revenue came in slightly higher year-over-year, and the firm reported double-digit e-commerce growth in the nine days leading to Cyber Monday. Still, Keybanc cut its price target for the shares to $12 from $13. Today's jump is ASNA's largest percentage gain in more than 14 years and makes the stock today's top Nasdaq Composite (COMP) performer, with the shares attempting to fill September's post-earnings bear gap. In the option pits, bearish bettors may be sweating. ASNA's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) currently stands at 2.56, just 4 percentage points from an annual peak.
Fellow retailer GIII is also moving after earnings, with the shares currently trading up 5.5% at $28.36, after an initial decline of more than 9% -- and drop to three-year lows. GIII reported earnings that came in under analysts' expectations, and cut its full-year sales forecast for 2017. No fewer than five brokerage firms cut their price targets on GIII following earnings, including a cut to $25 from $37 by Telsey Advisory Group. GIII has had a rough 2016, falling more than 36%, and with a rally attempt last month blocked by its 80-day moving average. Most analysts remain optimistic, though, with five out of nine offering up "buy" or better endorsements, and not a single "sell" in sight.
ATI is down 6.6% at $16.59, after the company suspended its quarterly dividend. Though ATI is up by 48% so far in 2016, the shares have repeatedly run into resistance at the $18-$19 neighborhood since March. Short sellers may be cheering today's tumble, with ATI's short interest up 7% over the last two reporting periods, now accounting for 22.1% of ATI's float, which would take 8.2 days of trading to cover, at the stock's average daily volume.

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