Cooler Company Yeti Rises to a Record High

(Bloomberg) -- Yeti Holdings rose for a third straight session on Wednesday, with the company hitting record levels in the latest move higher for the cooler company.

Shares gained as much as 8 percent on trading volume that was above the daily average over the past three months, though the stock subsequently pared its advance, last trading up 3 percent on the day. The rise came on a mostly negative day for the broader market.

Yeti has surged nearly 70 percent since its results last month.

“This is a strong brand that a lot of consumers are passionate about, and it is under-penetrated in large parts of the country as well as internationally,” said Peter Keith, an analyst at Piper Jaffray who has an overweight rating on the stock.

“The fourth-quarter results were impressive, and the company has been out on the road meeting with investors,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s easy to connect the dots with the stock rally and think the company must be feeling pretty confident on its business trends.”

The stock is a favorite among Wall Street analysts. Of the 12 firms that track the shares, according to Bloomberg data, all of them have the equivalent of buy ratings on the stock. Among recent comments, Jefferies last week raised its price target to a Street-high view of $40, seeing a “significant opportunity” for the company to broaden its international presence. Earlier this month, Citi said it had “great confidence in the company’s growth targets” following a meeting with Yeti’s management team.

The bullish trends have corresponded with a growing amount of short interest, however. According to data from S3 Partners, short interest stands at about 68.5 percent of the company’s float, up from 12.25 percent in late November.

Piper’s Keith suggested that the high level of short interest could be a factor behind the recent stock moves, as such highly shorted names “can see moves exacerbated a bit in both directions.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Vlastelica in New York at rvlastelica1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Steven Fromm

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