Vipshop (NYSE:VIPS) Downgraded by Citigroup to Neutral

Citigroup downgraded shares of Vipshop (NYSE:VIPS) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $18.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on VIPS. StockNews.com raised Vipshop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Vipshop from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vipshop has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.30.

Vipshop Price Performance

Shares of VIPS opened at $15.34 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $15.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.63. Vipshop has a one year low of $11.50 and a one year high of $17.94. The stock has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.34, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.30.

Vipshop (NYSE:VIPS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.05). Vipshop had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 7.50%. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. Analysts anticipate that Vipshop will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Vipshop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. Vipshop’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Institutional Trading of Vipshop

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VIPS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vipshop by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,961,402 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $188,060,000 after purchasing an additional 79,254 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Vipshop by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 11,107,555 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $149,619,000 after acquiring an additional 139,320 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Vipshop by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,063,150 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $108,608,000 after purchasing an additional 993,042 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Vipshop by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,759,150 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $104,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,718,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vipshop during the 4th quarter valued at about $64,115,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 48.82% of the company’s stock.

About Vipshop

Vipshop Holdings Limited operates online platforms in the People's Republic of China. It operates in Vip.com, Shan Shan Outlets, and Others segments. The company offers womenswear, menswear, sportswear and sporting goods, shoes and bags, accessories, baby and children products, skincare and cosmetics, home goods and other lifestyle products, and supermarket products.