J.P. Morgan Securities upgraded PG to "overweight" from "neutral"
J.P. Morgan Securities this morning upgraded Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG) to "overweight" from "neutral," with a price-target hike to $155 from $150, saying the blue-chip giant could be an "earnings compounder." At last glance, PG was up 0.5% at $140.62.
On the charts, PG has been been dealing with both pressure at the $141 level and from its 100-day moving average since early February. Year-to-date, the equity is down 7.3%.
Of the 28 analysts in coverage, 17 now carry a "buy" or better rating, with 10 a "hold," and one "strong sell." The 12-month consensus price target of $155.02 is a 10.6% premium to current levels.
Options traders have been much more bullish than usual over the past couple weeks. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), PG's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 3.44 ranks higher than 94% of readings from the past year.
Now could be a good time to weigh in on the security's next move with options. The stock is seeing attractively priced premiums at the moment, per PG's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 17%, which sits in the very low 2nd percentile of its annual range. Furthermore, the security's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 94 out of 100 means the stock has exceeded option traders' volatility expectations during the past year.