Analysts adjusted their ratings and price targets on FireEye Inc (FEYE), Columbia Sportswear Company (COLM), and American International Group Inc (AIG)
Analysts are weighing in on cybersecurity stock
FireEye Inc (NASDAQ:FEYE), outdoor apparel maker
Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM), and insurance agent
American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on FEYE, COLM, and AIG.
- FEYE is down 5.6% at $11.72 -- and earlier tagged a new record low of $11.35 -- after the company projected a wider-than-expected current-quarter loss and said recent acquisitions could stunt profitability in the near term. Also pressuring the shares are no fewer than 11 price-target cuts, including one from UBS to $13 from $17. While option traders may be gritting their teeth at today's price action, short sellers are likely cheering. Short interest accounts for a healthy 10.4% of FireEye Inc's available float.
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At least five brokerages raised their price targets on COLM in the wake of the firm's stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and full-year forecast. D.A. Davidson, for example, boosted its target price to $74, saying Columbia Sportswear Company's "brand momentum and diversified product assortment was in full effect in 4Q despite an incredibly mild start to the winter and weak retail traffic trends." (Citigroup, meanwhile, lowered its price target by $1 to $62.) Against this backdrop, the shares have surged 17.2% to $56.17 -- and are on pace to close north of their 200-day moving average for the first time since Oct. 19. In the options pits, short-term speculators have rarely been as put-skewed toward the stock as they are now, per COLM's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 13.08 -- in the 93rd annual percentile.
- AIG is up 5% at $53.04, after the firm buckled under the weight of Carl Icahn, nominating both Icahn's representative Samuel Merksamer and billionaire John Paulson to its board. This news appears to be overshadowing American International Group Inc's wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and subsequent round of bearish brokerage notes. Nomura gave the most dismal outlook, cutting its price target to $55 from $62. Longer term, the stock has shed 17.5% since hitting its Dec. 2 high of $64.31 -- and notched a new annual low of $50.38 yesterday. Option traders, meanwhile, have been bracing for the worst. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), AIG's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 3.28 sits higher than 98% of all comparable readings taken in the past year.
For other stocks in analysts' crosshairs, read
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