NIKE’s (NKE) Hold Rating Reaffirmed at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus restated their hold rating on shares of NIKE (NYSE:NKE) in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $75.00 price target on the footwear maker’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of NIKE from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on NIKE from $105.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. DA Davidson raised NIKE to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of NIKE in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on NIKE from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.38.

NIKE Stock Performance

NKE opened at $57.17 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $72.96 and a 200-day moving average of $76.33. NIKE has a 12-month low of $52.50 and a 12-month high of $98.04. The stock has a market cap of $84.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The footwear maker reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.26. NIKE had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 36.99%. The business had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that NIKE will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

NIKE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Mark G. Parker sold 169,732 shares of NIKE stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.83, for a total transaction of $12,361,581.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 896,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,301,708.56. The trade was a 15.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NIKE

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NKE. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NIKE during the fourth quarter worth $642,000. Cacti Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NIKE in the fourth quarter valued at $9,987,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in NIKE during the fourth quarter worth about $5,384,000. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in NIKE by 31.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of NIKE by 5,745.9% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,504 shares in the last quarter. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.