Nike (NKE) Stock Races Ahead on $12 Billion Buyback Plan, Stock Split, Dividend Hike

Nike (NKE) shares are rallying after the athletic apparel and footwear maker announced a $12 billion share buyback program, declared a 2-for-1 stock split, and boosted its dividend by 14%.
By U-Jin Lee ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Nike (NKE) - Get Report  shares are rallying 4.38% to $131.29 on Friday after the athletic apparel and footwear maker announced a $12 billion share buyback program, declared a 2-for-1 stock split, and boosted its dividend by 14%.

The new buyback plan will start once the current $8 billion share repurchase plan is completed before the end of fiscal 2016, the company said.

"In a growing sports industry, Nike is the clear leader," CEO Mark Parker stated. "We are built for growth, while also staying committed to creating shareholder value over the long term."

The stock split applies to the company's Class A and Class B shares and shares are expected to start trading at the split-adjusted price on December 24. 

The quarterly dividend rises to 32 cents a share, a 14% increase from its pre-split previous quarterly rate of 28 cents a share.

Based in Beaverton, OR, Nike develops, markets, and sells athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories for men, women, and kids worldwide.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates NIKE INC as a Buy with a ratings score of A+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

We rate NIKE INC (NKE) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, revenue growth and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow.

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

  • Investors have apparently begun to recognize positive factors similar to those we have mentioned in this report, including earnings growth. This has helped drive up the company's shares by a sharp 31.48% over the past year, a rise that has exceeded that of the S&P 500 Index. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, NKE should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
  • NIKE INC has improved earnings per share by 22.9% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, NIKE INC increased its bottom line by earning $3.70 versus $2.98 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($4.31 versus $3.70).
  • The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has greatly exceeded that of the S&P 500, but is less than that of the Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods industry average. The net income increased by 22.6% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $962.00 million to $1,179.00 million.
  • NKE's revenue growth trails the industry average of 15.6%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 5.4%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
  • NKE's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.09 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. To add to this, NKE has a quick ratio of 1.69, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs.
  • You can view the full analysis from the report here: NKE
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