Children's Place Lifts FY18 Profit View; Stock Up

(RTTNews) - The Children's Place Inc. (PLCE) raised its outlook for fiscal year 2018. The company's Board of Directors authorized a dividend of $0.50 per share, payable on September 17, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 5, 2018.

In the Thursday pre-Market trade, PLCE is trading at $147.40, up $9.90 or 7.20 percent.

For fiscal 2018, the company raised its outlook for adjusted net income per share to a range of $8.09 to $8.29 from a range of $7.95 to $8.20. This compared to adjusted net income per share of $7.91 in fiscal 2017. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $8.11 per share for fiscal year 2018. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company now expects total net sales for the year to be in the range of $1.945 billion to $1.955 billion. This guidance assumes a positive mid-single digit comparable retail sales increase. Analysts expect net sales of $1.93 billion for fiscal year 2018. The company said in May that it expected total net sales for the year to be in the range of $1.920 billion to $1.935 billion. This guidance assumed a comparable retail sales increase of about 3.5% to 4.5%.

The company expects net income per share in the third quarter of 2018 to be in the range of $2.97 to $3.07 based upon a mid-single digit comparable retail sales increase. This compares to adjusted net income per share of $2.58 in the third quarter of 2017. Analysts project third-quarter earnings of $3.00 per share.