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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Foot Locker

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James & Associates bought a new stake in Foot Locker in the fourth quarter worth approximately $844,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Foot Locker during the fourth quarter worth about $211,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Foot Locker in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Foot Locker in the 4th quarter worth about $1,277,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Foot Locker by 19.9% in the fourth 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 period.

Foot Locker Stock Performance

Shares of FL traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $32.57. The stock had a trading volume of 1,336,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,258,941. Foot Locker has a one year low of $14.84 and a one year high of $35.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of -8.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.98.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FL. Morgan Stanley cut Foot Locker from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $18.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Foot Locker in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Foot Locker in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Foot Locker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Foot Locker from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Five equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.73.

Foot Locker Company Profile

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.