StockNews.com Upgrades Skechers U.S.A. (NYSE:SKX) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Skechers U.S.A. (NYSE:SKX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on SKX. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Skechers U.S.A. from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Skechers U.S.A. from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Skechers U.S.A. from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Skechers U.S.A. from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.09.

Skechers U.S.A. Stock Down 1.4 %

SKX stock opened at $60.70 on Tuesday. Skechers U.S.A. has a 52-week low of $51.33 and a 52-week high of $75.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.23.

Skechers U.S.A. (NYSE:SKX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The textile maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Skechers U.S.A. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Skechers U.S.A. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 25th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the textile maker to reacquire up to 10.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SKX. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Skechers U.S.A. by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 410 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Skechers U.S.A. by 423.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 450 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Skechers U.S.A. by 2,809.1% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 640 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Skechers U.S.A. by 52.9% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 864 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Skechers U.S.A. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Institutional investors own 79.96% of the company’s stock.

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.