Analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded Brown Shoe Company (NYSE: BWS) on Monday from Underweight to Equal Weight and lowered their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $26.50. Brown Shoe Company produces and sells men’s and women’s shoes.
Potential For Downside
Brown stock is up more than 4 percent in early trading Monday on news of the upgrade. The stock is currently trading at about $30.00.
Morgan Stanley’s $26.50 price target represents about a 12 percent downside for the stock from current levels. Brown stock has had a decent year in 2014, up more than 6 percent year to date.
Other Analyst Action
Morgan Stanley is not the only firm to weigh in on Brown Shoe Company lately.
Jefferies Group initiated coverage of Brown this month, issuing a Hold rating and setting a price target for the stock of $32.00. In November, Zacks upgraded Brown from Neutral to Outperform and set a $34.10 target for the stock.
Finally, Buckingham Research downgraded Brown in November from Buy to Neutral.
Insider Selling
Back in September of this year, Brown Shoe Company CEO Diane Sullivan sold over $1.1 million of Brown stock at a price of $30.02 per share.
Chief Accounting Officer Daniel Karpel and Division President John Mazurk each joined Sullivan in selling about $150,000 worth of Brown stock at around the same time.
A Valuation Perspective
Brown Shoe Company’s price to earnings ratio (P/E) is about 17.5, which is very close to average for the overall SP 500.
Its forward P/E ratio is a more appealing 15, while Brown’s current debt-to-equity ratio of 0.4 is reasonable for the footwear and apparel sector.
Latest Ratings for BWS
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