Foot Locker Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:FL)

Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 15,659 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 79% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,747 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Foot Locker during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,473,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Foot Locker by 88.6% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,323,597 shares of the athletic footwear retailer’s stock valued at $115,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500,396 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Foot Locker by 198.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,876 shares of the athletic footwear retailer’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Foot Locker by 140.8% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 412,988 shares of the athletic footwear retailer’s stock worth $8,987,000 after purchasing an additional 241,504 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Foot Locker by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 416,498 shares of the athletic footwear retailer’s stock valued at $9,063,000 after buying an additional 30,977 shares in the last quarter.

Foot Locker Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FL traded down $0.13 during trading on Monday, hitting $23.73. The company had a trading volume of 5,094,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,084,664. Foot Locker has a 12 month low of $11.00 and a 12 month high of $33.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.59.

Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The athletic footwear retailer reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Foot Locker had a negative net margin of 5.24% and a positive return on equity of 2.91%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Foot Locker will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FL. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Foot Locker from $22.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Foot Locker from $14.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Foot Locker from $19.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Foot Locker in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Foot Locker from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.19.

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.