Chico's hits 52-week high

Investors are starting to take note of Chico's FAS, recently bidding the company's shares to 52-week highs.

Chico's shares rose more than 10% in the days following the announcement of improved earnings, hitting a high of $18.83 on Aug. 28 (symbol: CHS). The company's shares hovered around $10 at the beginning of the year.

Fort Myers-based Chico's owns and operates 1,327 stores under the brands Chico's, White House | Black Market, Soma Intimates and the online retailer Boston Proper.

The reason for investor cheer: Chico's reported net income rose 23% to $53.4 million on net sales of nearly $641.7 million in the quarter ending July 28 compared with the same quarter one year ago.

The company's net sales of $641.7 million in the second quarter represented an increase of 16.4% compared with the $551.4 million in sales in the second quarter of 2011. In addition to the boost in sales at existing stores, the company's revenues rose as the result of a 7.4% increase in store square footage and $32.6 million in sales from newly acquired Boston Proper.

In a transcript of a conference call with investors posted on Seekingalpha.com, Chico's President and CEO David Dyer gushed: “We delivered record second quarter sales and the highest second quarter earnings per share in the company's history.”

In addition, Dyer suggested there's more good news to come later this year. “Our unique, trend-right merchandise and innovative marketing drove significant achievements in the second quarter, including a double-digit increase in new customers, a higher penetration of full-price sales, and increases in both average dollar sales and transactions,” Dyer told investors.

Chico's financial position is enviable. It has no debt and $358 million in cash on its balance sheet. It pays a quarterly dividend and has repurchased 9 million shares for the year ending July 28.