Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $935,000 Investment in The ODP Co. (NASDAQ:ODP)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in The ODP Co. (NASDAQ:ODP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 16,600 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $935,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ODP. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of ODP by 0.3% during the 4th 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. Gladius Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of ODP by 94.6% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 722 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of ODP by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,059 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of ODP by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 8,962 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $414,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its position in shares of ODP by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 20,449 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $944,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on ODP shares. TheStreet downgraded shares of ODP from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a report 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.00.

ODP Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ODP traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $51.39. 202,931 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 307,053. The ODP Co. has a 52 week low of $39.36 and a 52 week high of $58.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.62. The company's 50 day moving average price is $51.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.29.

ODP (NASDAQ:ODP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The specialty retailer reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The ODP Co. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ODP announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 28th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to buy up to 48.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at ODP

In related news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 96,104 shares in the company, valued at $5,285,720. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ODP Profile

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.