Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 7,675 Shares of The ODP Co. (NASDAQ:ODP)

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its stake in The ODP Co. (NASDAQ:ODP) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,257 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 7,675 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.07% of ODP worth $1,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in ODP by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,481,692 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $83,419,000 after purchasing an additional 493,233 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of ODP by 11.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 524,628 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $24,212,000 after purchasing an additional 54,836 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of ODP by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 487,239 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $22,486,000 after buying an additional 14,040 shares during the period. Cambria Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of ODP by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 174,342 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,046,000 after buying an additional 11,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in ODP by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,485 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,268,000 after buying an additional 2,031 shares during the period. 99.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Diego Anthony Scaglione sold 25,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 96,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,285,720. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. TheStreet cut ODP from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded ODP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

ODP Price Performance

ODP stock opened at $51.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.45. The ODP Co. has a 1 year low of $39.36 and a 1 year high of $58.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

ODP (NASDAQ:ODP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The specialty retailer reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.16. ODP had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 1.77%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. ODP’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The ODP Co. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ODP declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding 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 generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About ODP

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.