Analysts upwardly revised their ratings on Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG), Bank of America Corp (BAC), and Nike Inc (NKE),
Analysts are weighing in on burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG), financial firm Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), and athletic apparel issue Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on CMG, BAC, and NKE.
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Despite a $120 price-target hike to $740 at Wedbush, CMG is pointed 3.5% lower ahead of the bell amid turbulent broad-market headwinds. Heading into today's session, the stock is up 5.2% year-to-date to trade at $720.01, and notched a record peak of $758.61 as recently as Aug. 5. Nevertheless, sentiment is skewed toward the skeptical side. In the options pits, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.'s Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.43 ranks in the 90th annual percentile. Plus, short interest surged 50% in the latest reporting period, and now accounts for a healthy 6.8% of the stock's available float.
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KBW upped its outlook on BAC to "outperform" from "market perform," yet the stock is staring at a 5.8% deficit in electronic trading. It's been a rough ride for BAC as is, with the security down 12.9% from its July 22 five-year peak of $18.48. What's more, the shares closed at $16.10 on Friday -- south of their 320-day moving average for the first time since May 1. Option traders, meanwhile, have remained on the bearish side of the fence. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), Bank of America Corp's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.27 rests above 79% of all similar readings taken in the past year. In other words, puts have been bought to open over calls at a faster-than-usual clip.
- NKE saw its rating raised to "outperform" from "market perform" at Telsey Advisory this morning. Still, the shares are down 4.6% ahead of the bell. Longer term, NKE has added an impressive 11.1% in 2015 to trade at $106.87, hit a record high of $117.72 on Aug. 5, and found a foothold atop its 20-week moving average during last week's broad-market bloodbath. Option players have been bracing for a pullback, per NKE's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 1.37, which sits in the 93rd percentile of its annual range. Plus, Nike Inc's SOIR of 1.70 stands just 13 percentage points from a 52-week peak.
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