The ODP Co. (NASDAQ:ODP) Short Interest Update

The ODP Co. (NASDAQ:ODP - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,330,000 shares, a decline of 37.6% from the March 15th total of 5,340,000 shares. Approximately 9.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 310,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 10.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ODP. StockNews.com upgraded ODP from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. TheStreet lowered ODP from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.00.

ODP Price Performance

ODP stock traded down $0.52 on Friday, reaching $50.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 350,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 308,106. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.62. The business's fifty day moving average price is $52.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.01. ODP has a twelve month low of $39.36 and a twelve month high of $58.98.

ODP (NASDAQ:ODP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The specialty retailer reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.16. ODP had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 1.77%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that ODP will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ODP declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 28th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 48.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,285,720. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ODP

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of ODP by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 69,795 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,929,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ODP by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 15,247 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $858,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in ODP by 9.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,052 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in ODP by 4.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 6,457 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in ODP by 10.2% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,501 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.56% of the company's stock.

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.

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