Hibbett Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:HIBB)

Hibbett, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 2,754 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 640% compared to the average volume of 372 call options.

Institutional Trading of Hibbett

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Hibbett during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $371,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Hibbett during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,242,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hibbett during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,685,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Hibbett by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 261,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,412,000 after buying an additional 34,200 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Hibbett by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 2,796 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.08% of the company’s stock.

Hibbett Trading Up 18.8 %

Shares of HIBB opened at $86.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.63. Hibbett has a 12 month low of $34.86 and a 12 month high of $86.70.

Hibbett (NASDAQ:HIBB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 15th. The company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.01. Hibbett had a return on equity of 25.72% and a net margin of 5.97%. The firm had revenue of $466.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $477.42 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hibbett will post 8.21 EPS for the current year.

Hibbett Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Hibbett’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HIBB. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Hibbett from $74.00 to $87.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Hibbett in a research note on Tuesday. Williams Trading reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Hibbett in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective on Hibbett from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.79.

About Hibbett

Hibbett, Inc together with its subsidiaries, engages in the retail of athletic-inspired fashion products in the United States. Its stores offer a range of merchandise, including athletic footwear, athletic and fashion apparel, team sports equipment, and related accessories. The company operates Hibbett stores, City Gear stores, and Sports Additions athletic shoe stores.