Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Foot Locker from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on Foot Locker from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays lowered Foot Locker from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Foot Locker from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Foot Locker from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.33.

Foot Locker Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FL opened at $24.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.79. Foot Locker has a 12 month low of $11.00 and a 12 month high of $31.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.19 and a 200-day moving average of $20.11.

Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The athletic footwear retailer reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.32). Foot Locker had a negative net margin of 4.90% and a positive return on equity of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.05) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Foot Locker will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Giovanna Cipriano sold 22,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.90, for a total transaction of $557,336.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 93,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,985.50. This represents a 19.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Foot Locker

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FL. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Foot Locker by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 61,293 shares of the athletic footwear retailer’s stock worth $1,502,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Foot Locker during the second quarter worth about $3,505,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Foot Locker in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,125,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Foot Locker by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 283,482 shares of the athletic footwear retailer’s stock valued at $6,945,000 after buying an additional 21,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its holdings in Foot Locker by 43.1% in the 2nd quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 28,640 shares of the athletic footwear retailer’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 8,625 shares during the last quarter.

About Foot Locker

Foot Locker, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a footwear and apparel retailer in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and the Middle East. Its brand portfolio includes Foot Locker, a brand comprising sneakers and apparel; Kids Foot Locker, which offers athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories for children; and Champs Sports that operates as a mall-based specialty athletic footwear and apparel retailer.