JMP Securities upgraded Box to "market outperform"
Box Inc (NYSE:BOX) is up 0.1% at $25.27 this morning following an upgrade to "market outperform" from "market perform" at JMP Securities. The analyst noted several positive factors, including the firm's execution.
When we last covered BOX, the stock was coming off a volatile run, but quickly staged a bounce off the 50-day moving average that placed it at a three-year high of $27.41 on July 2. While the equity has since cooled from that area, with several dips below the 50-day, it's staged another bounce off its 180-day moving average early last week, and today the equity is tentatively looking to extend its four-day win streak to five. For the year, BOX is up roughly 40%.
Analysts were mostly optimistic on the cloud computing stock heading into today. Of the six in coverage, four called it a "buy" or better, while two said "strong sell." Plus, the 12-month consensus price target of $28.57 is a 12.4% premium to Friday's close.
The options pits have been a bit more bearish than usual. This is per BOX's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which stands higher than 88% of readings from the past 12 months. This means long puts have rarely been more popular.
Options are reasonably priced right now, too. Box stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 34% sits in the 18th percentile of its annual range. In other words, options traders are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations for BOX at the moment.