NIKE’s (NKE) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

BTIG Research reissued their buy rating on shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. BTIG Research currently has a $55.00 price target on the footwear maker’s stock.

NKE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of NIKE in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Zacks Research upgraded NIKE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Evercore set a $46.00 target price on shares of NIKE and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Truist Financial set a $42.00 price target on shares of NIKE and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group set a $44.00 target price on shares of NIKE and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.91.

NIKE Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NIKE stock opened at $35.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $53.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.57. NIKE has a fifty-two week low of $35.22 and a fifty-two week high of $76.97.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.85 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 6.70%.NIKE’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that NIKE will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.47%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Philip McCartney sold 2,559 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.59, for a total transaction of $96,192.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 78,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,936,568.39. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Matthew Friend sold 2,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $102,460.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 82,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,418,064. This represents a 2.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 14,974 shares of company stock worth $600,126 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westerkirk Capital Inc. increased its position in NIKE by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. now owns 131,220 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $8,360,000 after buying an additional 45,100 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its holdings in NIKE by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 2,526,179 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $160,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,499 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NIKE by 32.8% in the second quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 244,296 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $10,028,000 after acquiring an additional 60,375 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in NIKE by 8.0% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,566,634 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $146,410,000 after acquiring an additional 264,576 shares during the period. Finally, Quantitative Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,459,000. Institutional investors own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting NIKE

Here are the key news stories impacting NIKE this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BTIG reaffirmed a Buy rating, providing a counterpoint to the more cautious analyst views. NIKE also recently signed a reported $200 million partnership with the University of Miami, potentially supporting its college-sports presence. BTIG Research Reaffirms Buy Rating for NIKE Nike University of Miami Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: NIKE is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter results on October 1. Investors will look for evidence of improving demand, inventory normalization and progress in China; options markets imply a potentially significant post-earnings move. Nike Earnings Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America downgraded NIKE to Underperform from Neutral and cut its price target to $30 from $47. The firm now expects sales to keep falling through May, pushing the anticipated recovery back by roughly a year—potentially to fiscal 2028—and eliminating hopes for a near-term “spring inflection.” Bank of America Nike Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: The bearish view reflects pressure on wholesale sales and distribution channels, weak demand and excess inventory in China, softer consumer trends, and concerns about product innovation. Bank of America also reduced its valuation multiple, while other analysts have trimmed earnings estimates ahead of the report. Nike Channel and China Pressures

About NIKE

NIKE, Inc is a global athletic footwear, apparel and equipment company headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. The company designs, develops and markets products under the NIKE, Jordan and Converse brands, serving athletes and consumers across a broad range of sports and lifestyle categories.

NIKE’s offerings include athletic and casual footwear, sportswear, apparel, accessories and athletic equipment. The company distributes its products through company-owned retail stores, digital platforms, wholesale partners and independent distributors.