Short Interest in Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) Expands By 15.2%

Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,110,000 shares, an increase of 15.2% from the July 15th total of 9,640,000 shares. Currently, 13.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered Foot Locker from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Foot Locker in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com lowered Foot Locker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Foot Locker in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Foot Locker from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Foot Locker currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.73.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Foot Locker

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new position in shares of Foot Locker in the 4th quarter valued at about $844,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Foot Locker in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Foot Locker in the 4th quarter valued at about $100,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Foot Locker in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,277,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Foot Locker by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 19,412 shares of the athletic footwear retailer’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 3,225 shares during the last quarter.

Foot Locker Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE FL traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.57. 1,336,108 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,258,941. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Foot Locker has a 52-week low of $14.84 and a 52-week high of $35.60. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.59, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.46.

Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The athletic footwear retailer reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.10. Foot Locker had a positive return on equity of 2.91% and a negative net margin of 4.41%. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. Foot Locker’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Foot Locker will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

About Foot Locker

Foot Locker, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a footwear and apparel retailer in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and the Middle East. Its brand portfolio includes Foot Locker, a brand comprising sneakers and apparel; Kids Foot Locker, which offers athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories for children; and Champs Sports that operates as a mall-based specialty athletic footwear and apparel retailer.