Wolverine World Wide (NYSE:WWW) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Shares of Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $15.01, but opened at $16.01. Wolverine World Wide shares last traded at $16.65, with a volume of 354,065 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised Wolverine World Wide from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Wolverine World Wide in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Wolverine World Wide from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Wolverine World Wide from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Wolverine World Wide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wolverine World Wide presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

Wolverine World Wide Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.84 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.90.

Wolverine World Wide (NYSE:WWW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The firm had revenue of $494.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.74 million. Wolverine World Wide had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 26.81%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.30) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Wolverine World Wide, Inc. will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Wolverine World Wide Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Wolverine World Wide’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Wolverine World Wide during the fourth quarter worth $64,943,000. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Wolverine World Wide by 487.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 36,776 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 30,519 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Wolverine World Wide during the third quarter worth about $3,034,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Wolverine World Wide by 1,263.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,426,942 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $24,857,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322,254 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Wolverine World Wide by 338.6% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 47,346 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $825,000 after buying an additional 36,551 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.25% of the company’s stock.

About Wolverine World Wide

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.