Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Raises Stake in The ODP Co. (NASDAQ:ODP)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of The ODP Co. (NASDAQ:ODP) by 50.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,598 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,563 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.05% of ODP worth $1,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ODP. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in shares of ODP in the third quarter valued at about $3,212,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of ODP by 5.4% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 8,962 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of ODP in the third quarter valued at about $202,000. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ODP by 34.9% in the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 8,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of ODP by 6.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,059 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. 99.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on ODP shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ODP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. TheStreet downgraded shares of ODP from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

ODP Price Performance

ODP stock opened at $51.43 on Friday. The ODP Co. has a 1 year low of $39.36 and a 1 year high of $58.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $51.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.28. The company has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.99.

ODP (NASDAQ:ODP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The specialty retailer reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.16. ODP had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 19.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. ODP’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The ODP Co. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

ODP declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 28th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty retailer to buy up to 48.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at ODP

In related news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $1,375,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 96,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,285,720. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

ODP Company Profile

The ODP Corporation provides business services and supplies, products, and digital workplace technology solutions for small, medium, and enterprise businesses in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company operates through four divisions: ODP Business Solutions, Office Depot, Veyer, and Varis.