Skechers U.S.A. Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SKX)

Skechers U.S.A., Inc. (NYSE:SKX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders bought 11,201 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 400% compared to the average daily volume of 2,242 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Skechers U.S.A. by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,724,299 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $779,491,000 after purchasing an additional 97,666 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Skechers U.S.A. by 5,780.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,639,390 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $176,628,000 after buying an additional 2,594,507 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Skechers U.S.A. by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,216,905 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $148,395,000 after buying an additional 11,026 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Skechers U.S.A. by 3.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,885,723 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $130,350,000 after acquiring an additional 55,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Skechers U.S.A. by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,316,882 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $88,126,000 after acquiring an additional 17,429 shares during the period. 79.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SKX shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Skechers U.S.A. from $78.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Skechers U.S.A. from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Skechers U.S.A. from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Skechers U.S.A. from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Skechers U.S.A. from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.09.

Skechers U.S.A. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SKX opened at $60.77 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $64.13 and a 200-day moving average of $66.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.96. Skechers U.S.A. has a twelve month low of $52.49 and a twelve month high of $75.09. The firm has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a PE ratio of 14.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.23.

Skechers U.S.A. (NYSE:SKX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The textile maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.11. Skechers U.S.A. had a net margin of 7.19% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Skechers U.S.A. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Skechers U.S.A. declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 25th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to buy up to 10.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Skechers U.S.A.

Skechers U.SA, Inc designs, develops, markets, and distributes footwear for men, women, and children worldwide. The company operates through Wholesale and Direct-to-Consumer segments. It offers footwear under Skechers Hands Free Slip-ins, Skechers Arch Fit, and Skechers Air-Cooled Memory Foam brands.