NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $96.30.

NKE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of NIKE from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on NIKE from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Daiwa America cut NIKE from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of NIKE from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of NIKE from $88.00 to $79.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in NIKE by 1,209,638.7% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,508,394 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $575,342,000 after purchasing an additional 6,507,856 shares during the period. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD purchased a new stake in NIKE in the 1st quarter valued at about $533,533,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in NIKE by 612.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,185,432 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $487,327,000 after buying an additional 4,457,376 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in NIKE by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,916,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $5,140,796,000 after buying an additional 1,862,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in NIKE during the third quarter worth about $148,635,000. 64.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NIKE Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:NKE opened at $73.92 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $80.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.90. The company has a market cap of $110.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.03. NIKE has a twelve month low of $70.75 and a twelve month high of $123.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The footwear maker reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.18. NIKE had a return on equity of 39.84% and a net margin of 10.60%. The firm had revenue of $11.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that NIKE will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from NIKE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. NIKE’s payout ratio is currently 42.41%.

About NIKE

NIKE, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and sells athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services worldwide. The company provides athletic and casual footwear, apparel, and accessories under the Jumpman trademark; and casual sneakers, apparel, and accessories under the Converse, Chuck Taylor, All Star, One Star, Star Chevron, and Jack Purcell trademarks.