European Wax Center Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:EWCZ)

European Wax Center, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWCZ) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 8,172 call options on the company. This is an increase of 1,163% compared to the typical daily volume of 647 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in European Wax Center by 4.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,334,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,675,000 after purchasing an additional 155,875 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of European Wax Center by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,697,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,345,000 after buying an additional 428,280 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of European Wax Center by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,600,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of European Wax Center by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,889,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,523,000 after buying an additional 29,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of European Wax Center by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 820,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,582,000 after acquiring an additional 30,804 shares during the last quarter. 82.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EWCZ shares. Citigroup lowered shares of European Wax Center from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $5.50 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of European Wax Center from $16.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $5.00 target price on shares of European Wax Center in a report on Friday, November 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of European Wax Center in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on European Wax Center from $13.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.64.

European Wax Center Price Performance

Shares of European Wax Center stock opened at $5.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $337.65 million, a PE ratio of 25.78, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $6.92 and a 200 day moving average of $8.31. The company has a current ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.81. European Wax Center has a 12 month low of $4.80 and a 12 month high of $16.07.

About European Wax Center

European Wax Center, Inc operates as the franchisor and operator of out-of-home waxing services in the United States. It offers body and facial waxing services; and pre- and post-service products, including ingrown hair serums, exfoliating gels, brow shapers, and skin treatments. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.