ODP (NASDAQ:ODP) Hits New 12-Month Low at $39.21

The ODP Co. (NASDAQ:ODP)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $39.21 and last traded at $39.27, with a volume of 65278 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $39.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ODP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TheStreet lowered shares of ODP from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of ODP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

ODP Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $49.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.42.

ODP (NASDAQ:ODP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The specialty retailer reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. ODP had a net margin of 1.08% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The ODP Co. will post 6.4 earnings per share for the current year.

ODP declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 28th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to buy up to 48.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $1,375,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 96,104 shares in the company, valued at $5,285,720. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ODP

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ODP by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,481,692 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $83,419,000 after purchasing an additional 493,233 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of ODP in the 4th quarter valued at about $21,070,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ODP by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,207,623 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $67,989,000 after purchasing an additional 164,020 shares during the period. Pennant Select LLC acquired a new position in shares of ODP in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,826,000. Finally, Greenlight Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ODP by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenlight Capital Inc. now owns 1,748,100 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $98,418,000 after purchasing an additional 133,750 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.56% of the company’s stock.

About ODP

The ODP Corporation provides business services and supplies, products, and digital workplace technology solutions for small, medium, and enterprise businesses in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company operates through four divisions: ODP Business Solutions, Office Depot, Veyer, and Varis.