As a part of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.'s (NASDAQ:BBBY) new CEO Mark Tritton's 2020 restructuring plan, the home product retailer announced the departure of six senior members. A search to fill the newly combined role for the Chief of Marketing and Chief Brand Officer is also underway, as well as a permanent placement for the remaining positions. Tritton explained that "This is the first in a number of important steps we're taking. Balancing our existing expertise with fresh perspectives." In response, BBBY is up 0.6% at $15.26.
So far, Wedbush looks to be the first analyst to react to this morning's news. The firm handed out a modest price-target hike to $18 from $16, though this does represent a nearly 19% premium to last night's close. From a broader perspective, 10 of 15 brokerage firms sport a "hold" or "strong sell" rating on the security.
Short interest has seen a notable 6.6% drop during the past two reporting periods, and now accounts for a hefty 47% of the stock's total available float. At BBBY's average pace of daily trading, it would take shorts 7.5 days to buy back their bearish bets.
In the options pits, data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) shows Bed Bath & Beyond stock with a 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.11. This ranks in the 92nd percentile of its annual range, suggesting bullish bets have been preferred over bearish of late.
More broadly, BBBY has been trending higher on the charts. In fact, the ascending 50-day moving average captured a late-November pullback from the shares, encouraging a lift higher to the equity's now 34% year-to-date lead.