NKE stock touched a record high just last week
Shoe giant Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) is slightly elevated this morning, up 0.9% at $85.53, after Cowen and Company analyst John Kernan hiked his price target on the stock to $92 from $90. Further, Kernan explained that compared to competitor Adidas, Nike does well with its tightly controlled supply launches, which drive consumer engagement and full-price sales.
Nike stock touched a record high of $87.99 on March 4, before pulling back to the 30-day moving average. The blue chip has added more than 15% so far in 2019, and has outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by more than 10 percentage points in the past three months.
Against this backdrop -- and ahead of the company's next earnings release, slated for Thursday, March 21 -- short-term NKE options players have rarely been more call-heavy during the past 12 months. This is per the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.67, which sits in the 21st percentile of its annual range.
Circling back to analyst sentiment, 14 of 20 covering firms already issue "buy" or "strong buy" recommendations on the stock. On the other hand, the average 12-month price target of $87.73 is just a stone's throw from current levels, suggesting additional NKE price-target hikes could be on the horizon.