The shares of Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) are up 0.6% to trade at $56.49 at last glance, enjoying a modest lift after Barclays upgraded the retailer to "overweight" from "equal weight." The brokerage also lifted its price target to $73 from $64, citing disciplined management, financial inflection, and progress within its operations.
NKE has been struggling on the charts, now off nearly 30% from its Aug. 25 record high of $80.16. The shares are within a chip-shot of their April 10 eight-year lows of $52.28, and are off 24% year-over-year. Keep an eye on the stock's 14-Day Relative Strength Index (RSI), which breached "oversold" territory at 30 yesterday.
Short-term put traders have been circling the equity. This is per the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.02, which ranks in the 90th percentile of its annual range.
Options are looking affordable for those looking to bet on Nike stock's next move. This is per the stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 38% that stands higher than 19% of all other readings from the past year. In other words, near-term option traders are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations.
