Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,180,000 shares, a drop of 9.3% from the February 29th total of 12,330,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 13.7% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FL. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $28.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Foot Locker in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup upgraded Foot Locker from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $19.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Foot Locker from $37.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded Foot Locker from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $28.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Foot Locker from $31.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned 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 "Hold" and a consensus price target of $24.94.

Foot Locker Stock Performance

NYSE:FL traded down $1.54 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $25.98. 4,170,577 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,821,756. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.88. Foot Locker has a 52 week low of $14.84 and a 52 week high of $42.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.43.

Foot Locker (NYSE:FL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The athletic footwear retailer reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Foot Locker had a positive return on equity of 4.25% and a negative net margin of 4.04%. The business's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Foot Locker will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Foot Locker

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Foot Locker by 68.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,336 shares of the athletic footwear retailer's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Foot Locker by 3,004.4% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the athletic footwear retailer's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,352 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Foot Locker in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in Foot Locker in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in Foot Locker by 1,548.0% in the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,648 shares of the athletic footwear retailer's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548 shares during the period.

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 youth culture 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.

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