Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW) Short Interest Update

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW) was the target of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,040,000 shares, an increase of 33.3% from the February 13th total of 6,030,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days. Approximately 10.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wolverine World Wide Stock Performance

NYSE:WWW traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $13.34. The company had a trading volume of 393,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,344,206. Wolverine World Wide has a 52 week low of $9.06 and a 52 week high of $24.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.01. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25 and a beta of 1.93.

Wolverine World Wide (NYSE:WWW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The textile maker reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The company had revenue of $494.70 million during 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%. Wolverine World Wide’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.30) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Wolverine World Wide will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Wolverine World Wide Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Wolverine World Wide’s payout ratio is currently 72.73%.

Institutional Trading of Wolverine World Wide

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WWW. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Wolverine World Wide during the 3rd quarter valued at about $195,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Wolverine World Wide by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 145,860 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,541,000 after purchasing an additional 7,577 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Wolverine World Wide by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 27,573 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Wolverine World Wide during the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,974,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Wolverine World Wide by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 39,412 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WWW shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised Wolverine World Wide from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price 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 target price on shares of Wolverine World Wide in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Wolverine World Wide from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Wolverine World Wide from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Wolverine World Wide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wolverine World Wide has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

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.