Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Wolverine World Wide Put Options (NYSE:WWW)

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 3,593 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 317% compared to the average volume of 862 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WWW. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Wolverine World Wide from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $21.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Wolverine World Wide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Wolverine World Wide from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Wolverine World Wide from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Wolverine World Wide in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.50.

Wolverine World Wide Stock Performance

WWW stock opened at $14.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50 and a beta of 1.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. Wolverine World Wide has a 12-month low of $9.07 and a 12-month high of $24.64.

Wolverine World Wide (NYSE:WWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The business had revenue of $494.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.74 million. Wolverine World Wide had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 26.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.30) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wolverine World Wide will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Wolverine World Wide Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Wolverine World Wide’s payout ratio is 72.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wolverine World Wide

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Wolverine World Wide in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Wolverine World Wide by 88.8% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,450 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the period. Natixis bought a new stake in shares of Wolverine World Wide during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Wolverine World Wide during the fourth quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Wolverine World Wide by 43.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,303 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 1,311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.25% of the company’s stock.

Wolverine World Wide Company Profile

Wolverine World Wide, Inc designs, manufactures, sources, markets, licenses, and distributes footwear, apparel, and accessories in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America. It operates through Active Group and Work Group segments. The company offers casual footwear and apparel; performance outdoor and athletic footwear and apparel; kids' footwear; industrial work boots and apparel; and uniform shoes and boots.