SOFI received regulatory approval to become a national bank through an acquisition
SoFi Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: SOFI) is attracting some bullish analyst attention, after the company received regulatory approval yesterday to become a national bank through its acquisition of Golden Pacific Bancorp. Wedbush initiated coverage on SoFi Technologies stock with an "outperform" rating and $20 price target, while Rosenblatt Securities raised its price objective to $30 from $28. The former praised SOFI's strong growth outlook, noting is product offerings could be popular among younger consumers.
Options traders are chiming in on SoFi Technologies stock's update, too. So far, 132,000 calls and 25,000 puts have crossed the tape, which is seven times the intraday average. Most popular is the January 14 call, followed by the 15 call in the same monthly series, with positions being opened at the former.
The brokerage bunch was already fiercely optimistic towards SOFI coming into today, with six of the seven analysts in coverage calling it a "strong buy," while only one said "hold." Plus, the 12-month consensus target price of $21.15 is a 47.7% premium to current levels.
The security, which is trending on Stocktwits today, was last seen up 13.3% at $13.66, after a few volatile months. Shares fell to an annual low of $12.02 yesterday, pressured lower by its 20-day moving average, which is still acting as resistance on the charts. Year-over-year, SoFi Technologies stock has shed 40%.
A short squeeze could create additional tailwinds for SOFI. Short interest is up 38.3% over the last two reporting periods, and the 63.29 million shares sold short account for 10.6% of the stock's available float.
It is also worth noting the security's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS)sits at 82 out of 100. This suggests SOFI has exceeded options traders' volatility expectations in the past year.