Hedge Funds’ Bullish Moves on Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AQXP), Herbalife Ltd. (HLF), and Childrens Place Inc. (PLCE)

According to a Schedule 13G, Balyasny Asset Management owns 999,915 shares of Childrens Place Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE), which represent 5.01% of the company’s outstanding shares. This compares with the 347,048-share stake revealed through the fund’s 13F filing for the September quarter. The largest pure-play children’s specialty apparel retailer in North America has seen its shares advance by 7% over the past year, and there does not seem to be too much upside if considering the company’s P/E multiples. The company’s comparable retail sales dropped by 3.0% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2015, mainly due to unseasonably warm weather. However, Childrens Place anticipates delivering comparable store sales growth in the range of 6% to 7% for the fourth quarter, as its comparable store sales were 7.3% higher through the first nine weeks of the fourth quarter. The company reported total sales of $1.23 billion for the first three quarters of 2015, down from $1.28 billion reported a year ago. However, with the strong start to the fourth quarter, it looks like the company will be able to register year-over-year top-line growth for 2015. Returning back to the company’s P/E multiples, the stock trades at a forward P/E ratio of 16.48, which is slightly above the ratio for the S&P 500 benchmark. The number of hedgies from our system with stakes in the company declined to 11 from 19 during the September quarter. Royce & Associates, founded by Chuck Royce, reported owning 2.05 million shares of Childrens Place Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) through its 13F for the third quarter.

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