Analyst Downgrades: Finish Line Inc, Hibbett Sports, Inc., and Clean Energy Fuels Corp

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL), Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB), and Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE)

Josh Selway

Mar 14, 2016 at 10:26 AM

Analysts are weighing in on athletic apparel stocks Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL) and Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB), as well as natural gas concern Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on FINL, HIBB, and CLNE.

FINL has dropped 3.3% to $18.56 out of the gate, after Credit Suisse trimmed its price target to $17 from $19. Still, it looks like the $18.50 area could now be acting as support, and the stock's 10-week moving average is also serving as a foothold. What's more, if Finish Line Inc has a positive showing in the earnings booth next week, it could benefit from a short squeeze. That's because, going by the stock's average daily volume, it'd take short sellers almost six sessions to cover their positions.

HIBB is 2.3% lower at $35.61, following price-target cuts to $34 from BMO and Deutsche Bank, as well as a cut to $36 at Canaccord Genuity. The shares remain more than 20% higher for 2016, but recently backed down from their 200-day moving average. In the meantime, options traders have taken a decidedly put-skewed approach. Specifically, Hibbett Sports, Inc.'s Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) stands at 3.14, meaning put open interest more than triples call open interest among options set to expire within three months.

A price-target cut to $4 from $6 at Jefferies has CLNE 6.2% lower at $3.04. Underperformance is nothing new from the shares, though, as they've trailed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by more than 11 percentage points in the past three months. It's not surprising, then, to see such elevated short-interest levels. By the numbers, almost 21% of Clean Energy Fuels Corp's float is controlled by short sellers, representing nearly two weeks' worth of buying power, based on CLNE's average daily volume.

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