NIKE’s (NKE) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group restated their buy rating on shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,MarketScreener Latest Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a $115.00 target price on the footwear maker’s stock.

NKE has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NIKE from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Zacks Research upgraded NIKE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on NIKE from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen raised NIKE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of NIKE from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $64.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.26.

NIKE Trading Up 6.2%

Shares of NYSE:NKE opened at $74.04 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. NIKE has a 12-month low of $52.28 and a 12-month high of $85.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.31. The company has a market capitalization of $109.35 billion, a PE ratio of 37.97, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.29.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.22. NIKE had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 21.05%. The firm had revenue of $11.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that NIKE will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 110,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.29, for a total transaction of $7,951,900.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 842,361 shares in the company, valued at $60,894,276.69. The trade was a 11.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its position in NIKE by 1.0% during the second quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 14,176 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 3,441 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of NIKE by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. now owns 2,390 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westmount Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of NIKE by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 5,165 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE Company Profile

NIKE, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and sells athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services worldwide. The company provides athletic and casual footwear, apparel, and accessories under the Jumpman trademark; and casual sneakers, apparel, and accessories under the Converse, Chuck Taylor, All Star, One Star, Star Chevron, and Jack Purcell trademarks.