Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. Sells 1,516 Shares of The ODP Co. (NASDAQ:ODP)

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lowered its holdings in The ODP Co. (NASDAQ:ODP) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,317 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,516 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s holdings in ODP were worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of ODP by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 20,986 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 7,322 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in ODP by 50.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 19,598 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 6,563 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in ODP by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 6,142 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ODP by 97.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 22,231 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 10,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of ODP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $935,000. Institutional investors own 99.56% of the company’s stock.

ODP Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of ODP stock traded down $0.70 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.61. The stock had a trading volume of 68,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 306,532. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.62. The ODP Co. has a 52 week low of $39.36 and a 52 week high of $58.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.27.

ODP (NASDAQ:ODP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The specialty retailer reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. ODP had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 19.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The ODP Co. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ODP announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 28th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 48.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ODP news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $1,375,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 96,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,285,720. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. TheStreet cut shares of ODP from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of ODP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

About ODP

The ODP Corporation provides business services and supplies, products, and digital workplace technology solutions for small, medium, and enterprise businesses in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company operates through four divisions: ODP Business Solutions, Office Depot, Veyer, and Varis.