PVH Corp (PVH) Making Big Move After Strong Results, Raised Guidance

PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH) has soared by 5% in trading today after the company reported better-than-expected results for its fiscal year 2016 first quarter. For the three months ended May 1, PVH earned $1.50 per share on sales of $1.92 billion, beating estimates by $0.07 and $20 million respectively. Sales rose by 2.1% year-over-year, led by a strong performance in the company’s Calvin Klein segment. Guidance was also lifted, with PVH now anticipating EPS of $6.45-to-$6.55 for the full 2016 fiscal year, while its previous guidance had called for EPS of $6.30-to-$6.50.

How do you pick the next stock to invest in? One way would be to spend hours of research browsing through thousands of publicly traded companies. However, an easier way is to look at the stocks that smart money investors are collectively bullish on. Hedge funds and other institutional investors usually invest large amounts of capital and have to conduct due diligence while choosing their next pick. They don’t always get it right, but, on average, their stock picks historically generated strong returns after adjusting for known risk factors. With this in mind, let’s take a look at the recent hedge fund activity surrounding PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH).

Is PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH) a buy right now? Prominent investors are getting more optimistic. The number of long hedge fund bets improved by 8 recently. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (ADR) (NYSE:MBT), Vereit Inc (NYSE:VER), and Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) to gather more data points.

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, D E Shaw, founded by David E. Shaw, has the largest position in PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH), worth close to $155.7 million, comprising 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, which holds a $143.1 million position; the fund has 0.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other professional money managers with similar optimism include Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management, Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management, and Glenn Fuhrman and John Phelan’s MSD Capital.

On the next page we’ll look at some funds that took up positions in PVH Corp during Q1, as well as compare the stock to a handful of others with similar market caps.