Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) Short Interest Up 13.7% in July

Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,640,000 shares, an increase of 13.7% from the June 30th total of 8,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,930,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 11.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FL shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Foot Locker in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Foot Locker from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Foot Locker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Foot Locker in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Foot Locker from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.44.

Institutional Trading of Foot Locker

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Foot Locker by 116.0% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,365 shares of the athletic footwear retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Foot Locker by 3,004.4% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the athletic footwear retailer’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Foot Locker by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,836 shares of the athletic footwear retailer’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Foot Locker by 43,900.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,200 shares of the athletic footwear retailer’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 2,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Foot Locker in the second quarter valued at approximately $91,000.

Foot Locker Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FL traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.83. 885,792 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,310,274. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of -7.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.46. Foot Locker has a fifty-two week low of $14.84 and a fifty-two week high of $35.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.85.

Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The athletic footwear retailer reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Foot Locker had a negative net margin of 4.41% and a positive return on equity of 2.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict 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.