Both CSII and FBHS suffered steep blows from analysts today
Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc (NYSE:FBHS) specializes in three main categories: plumbing, doors and security, and cabinets. Analysts at Barclays have project worry toward the latter business, saying increasing competition from China could present headwinds. The brokerage firm downgraded its rating on FBHS stock to "underweight" from "equal weight," and dropped its price target to $44 from $45. This comes as the company prepares to report earnings on Wednesday, April 24.
The average one-year price target among others covering Fortune Brands is $49.54, with a thin majority coming in with "buy" or "strong buy" ratings. As for options traders, volumes are generally quite low on an absolute level, but near-term traders are very put-heavy, based on the Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.16 that ranks 1 percentage point from an annual high.
On the charts, FBHS stock is down 1.6% at $48.89, holding just above its 50-day moving average, which provided support on two previous pullbacks this year. On the other hand, the notable $50 mark could be acting as a level of technical resistance.
Another stock that was hit with bearish analyst attention is Cardiovascular Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSII), with Seeking Alpha reporting a downgrade to "underperform" with a $42 price target. CSII's 50-day moving average should also be called out, as the shares are set to close below the key moving average for the first time since January. Today's pullback only extends a recent slide from March's high near $42, but the site of an early March bull gap could act as support. At last check, the shares were down 6.2% at $35.65.
Meanwhile, there's been some activity to watch from CSII short sellers, as the number of shares sold short skyrocketed in recent months, including a 153% surge in the last two reporting periods. At average daily trading volumes, it would take these bears 5.9 days to cover.