Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $935,000 Investment in The ODP Co. (NASDAQ:ODP)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of The ODP Co. (NASDAQ:ODP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $935,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ODP. Gladius Capital Management LP grew its position in ODP by 94.6% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 722 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ODP in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of ODP in the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ODP in the 3rd quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of ODP by 129.7% in the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 6,187 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 3,493 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.56% of the company’s stock.

ODP Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ODP opened at $51.43 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $51.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.28. The ODP Co. has a 1 year low of $39.36 and a 1 year high of $58.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The ODP Co. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

ODP declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 48.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ODP. StockNews.com raised shares of ODP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 96,104 shares in the company, valued at $5,285,720. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

ODP 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.