Analysts downwardly revised their ratings on Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR), TASER International, Inc. (TASR), and Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM)
Analysts are weighing in today on coffee king
Keurig Green Mountain Inc (NASDAQ:GMCR), law enforcement equipment maker
TASER International, Inc. (NASDAQ:TASR), and organic grocery chain
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on GMCR, TASR, and WFM.
- GMCR cut its full-year forecast, sending the shares 12% lower ahead of the bell. Reacting were no fewer than four brokerage firms, which all cut their price targets on the stock. Specifically, the largest cut came from SunTrust Robinson, which lowered its target to $95 from $120 -- a discount to GMCR's current perch -- while keeping its "neutral" rating. Heading into today's session, Keurig Green Mountain Inc has been an underperformer, with the shares down 18.4% year-to-date to finish yesterday at $108.08. However,traders have shown a preference for calls over puts in the options pits, as GMCR's 50-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) call/put volume ratio of 1.62 ranks in the 81st percentile of its annual range. Elsewhere, short interest increased 11.4% during the last two reporting periods, and now accounts for nearly 6% of GMCR's available float. It would take these bettors about four sessions to cover their positions, at average trading volumes.
- The shares of TASR are 2.4% lower in electronic trading, after Oppenheimer cut its rating on the stock to "perform" from "outperform." (On the flip side, Craig-Hallum raised its price target to $38 while reaffirming its "buy" opinion.) On the charts, TASER International, Inc. has been enjoying a solid uptrend lately, with the shares up 60.9% from their March 10 year-to-date low of $21.39 to close yesterday at $34.41. What's more, the stock touched a record high of $35 on Tuesday, thanks to a stellar earnings release and news that the firm has acquired MediaSolv Corporation an attempt to expand its cloud storage service for police body-camera videos. In light of its technical tenacity, TASR's 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) sits at 77 -- in overbought territory. Meanwhile, puts have been more prominent than usual in the options pits, as TASR's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 0.31 is higher than 81% of all similar readings from the past year. Meanwhile, 25% of the stock's available float is sold short, which would take over 11 sessions to cover, at average trading volumes.
- WFM woke up to no fewer than nine price target cuts -- and is 13% lower in pre-market trading -- after the company posted first-quarter earnings that failed to meet expectations, and announced plans for a discount chain. Drilling down, the largest cuts came from Barclays (to $45) and J.P. Morgan Securities (to $47). Looking back, Whole Foods Market, Inc. has been sliding beneath its 10-day moving average, with the shares down 17.1% from their Feb. 19 year-to-date high of $57.57 to close Wednesday at $47.72. However, options traders have kept the faith -- over the past 10 days at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX, 3.09 WFM calls have been bought to open for every put, which is a higher ratio than 74% of all similar readings from the past year.