Short Interest in Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW) Rises By 33.3%

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,040,000 shares, an increase of 33.3% from the February 13th total of 6,030,000 shares. Currently, 10.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wolverine World Wide

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WWW. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Wolverine World Wide during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Wolverine World Wide by 88.8% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,450 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the period. Natixis purchased a new position in Wolverine World Wide in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Wolverine World Wide during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Wolverine World Wide by 43.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,303 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 1,311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.25% of the company’s stock.

Wolverine World Wide Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Wolverine World Wide stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Monday, hitting $13.66. 1,243,863 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,176,953. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.01. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.83 and a beta of 1.93. Wolverine World Wide has a 12-month low of $9.07 and a 12-month high of $24.64.

Wolverine World Wide (NYSE:WWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The company had revenue of $494.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.74 million. Wolverine World Wide had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 26.81%. Wolverine World Wide’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.30) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Wolverine World Wide will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wolverine World Wide Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Wolverine World Wide’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on WWW shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Wolverine World Wide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Wolverine World Wide from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Wolverine World Wide in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Wolverine World Wide from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Wolverine World Wide from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.50.

About Wolverine World Wide

Wolverine World Wide, Inc designs, manufactures, sources, markets, licenses, and distributes footwear, apparel, and accessories in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America. It operates through Active Group and Work Group segments. The company offers casual footwear and apparel; performance outdoor and athletic footwear and apparel; kids' footwear; industrial work boots and apparel; and uniform shoes and boots.