NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Given New $34.00 Price Target at Evercore

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) had its price objective cut by Evercore from $46.00 to $34.00 in a research report released on Monday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group set a $42.00 price objective on shares of NIKE and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Truist Financial set a $42.00 target price on shares of NIKE and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $47.00) on shares of NIKE in a research note on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group set a $44.00 price target on NIKE and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $52.00 price objective on NIKE and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.77.

NIKE Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE NKE opened at $36.40 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. NIKE has a 12-month low of $35.22 and a 12-month high of $76.97.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The footwear maker reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.85 billion. NIKE had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that NIKE will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

NIKE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. NIKE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.47%.

Insider Activity at NIKE

In other news, COO Venkatesh Alagirisamy sold 3,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.59, for a total value of $137,992.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 104,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,941,762.58. This represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Matthew Friend sold 2,463 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $102,460.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 82,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,418,064. This trade represents a 2.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 14,974 shares of company stock valued at $600,126 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NIKE

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NKE. Westerkirk Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NIKE by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. now owns 131,220 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $8,360,000 after acquiring an additional 45,100 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its stake in NIKE by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 2,526,179 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $160,943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,499 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in NIKE by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 244,296 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $10,028,000 after purchasing an additional 60,375 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in NIKE by 8.0% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,566,634 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $146,410,000 after buying an additional 264,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantitative Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NIKE during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,459,000. 64.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More NIKE News

Here are the key news stories impacting NIKE this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Potential earnings improvement: Jefferies expects Nike to deliver a first-quarter beat, citing stabilization in North America and wholesale, healthier inventories, and earlier gross-margin expansion. Nike set for Q1 beat as margins improve, Jefferies says
• Positive Sentiment: Options market remains constructive: Options traders are reportedly bullish heading into the earnings release, suggesting some investors expect a favorable post-earnings move. Ahead of Nike Earnings, Here’s What Barchart Data Says Comes Next for NKE Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Brand-building expertise added to the board: Nike appointed Alexandre Arnault, a senior LVMH executive, bringing additional European consumer-market and luxury-brand experience to its governance team. Nike Brings Alexandre Arnault Onto Its Board
• Neutral Sentiment: Turnaround depends on product innovation: Nike is relying on new footwear launches and its Sport Offense strategy to rebuild sportswear momentum, but digital weakness and promotional activity remain obstacles. Will New Footwear Launches Help NIKE Rebuild Sportswear Momentum?
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are the key near-term catalyst: Investors are looking for management to provide evidence that North America, China, wholesale demand, margins, and inventory trends are improving. Retail investors are largely holding their positions ahead of the report.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst sentiment has deteriorated: Evercore cut its price target to $34, HSBC to $40, Deutsche Bank to $37, Goldman Sachs to $38, and Piper Sandler moved to Neutral with a $38 target. The revisions reflect expectations for a slower recovery and heavier promotions.
• Negative Sentiment: China and the broader turnaround remain major risks: Nike’s once-important China business is weakening, with sales reportedly down 12% in the latest quarter. Analysts warn that brand rebuilding, innovation, and recovery may take longer than expected, raising the risk of another negative earnings reset. Nike stock is near a 12-year low

About NIKE

NIKE, Inc is a global sportswear company that designs, develops, markets and sells athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and related services. Its products are marketed under the NIKE, Jordan and Converse brands and are used across a broad range of sports and lifestyle activities, including running, basketball, football, training and outdoor pursuits.

The company distributes its products through a combination of wholesale partners, NIKE-owned retail stores and digital platforms.