NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Reaches New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $69.41 and last traded at $69.92, with a volume of 7265193 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $71.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NKE shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of NIKE from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of NIKE from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.62.

NIKE Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.05.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The footwear maker reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.15. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business had revenue of $12.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that NIKE, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio is 49.38%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $76.65 per share, with a total value of $191,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,636,989.95. The trade was a 7.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in shares of NIKE in the 4th quarter valued at $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its position in NIKE by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,835 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,955,000 after buying an additional 6,124 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in NIKE by 5,745.9% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 8,504 shares during the period. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NIKE

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.