KeyBanc Upgrades Wolverine World Wide, Sees Pockets Of Opportunity

Although Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW) faces soft consumer demand and this year’s holiday season remains uncertain, there seem to be pockets of relative opportunity in the footwear segment, according to KeyBanc Capital Markets.

The Wolverine World Wide Analyst

Matthew DeGulis upgraded Wolverine World Wide from Sector Weight to Overweight, keeping the price target at $27.

The Wolverine World Wide Thesis

Prior to the pandemic crisis, Wolverine World Wide was well positioned for a strong performance in 2020, DeGulis said in the note.

He added that the company may be able to weather the current crisis better than its softlines peers and will likely gain share in the footwear market.

The company’s largest brands are driven by customer needs. In the first couple of weeks of the second quarter, Wolverine World Wide’s owned ecommerce business was trending north of 100%. Moreover, the company has significant exposure to several economies that are reopening faster than the U.S., the analyst said.

Wolverine World Wide’s kids business is large and “spending on kids has acted recession resistant in the past,” DeGulis wrote. He further added that the company has a comfortable liquidity position.

WWW Price Action

Shares of Wolverine World Wide had declined 1.8% to $20.11 at time of publication.