Guggenheim added SAM to its "best idea" list
The shares of Boston Beer Company Inc (NYSE:SAM) are up 1.6% to trade at $985.49 at last check, after Guggenheim reiterated its "buy" rating on SAM and named it a "best idea." The firm cited strength in the company's hard seltzer brand Truly, and noted the share losses in the leading White Claw brand.
Today's positive price action has SAM looking to snap a five-day losing streak, after the descending 30-day moving average rejected the shares at the $1,100 region. Currently, Boston Beer Company stock is sitting just below its year-to-date break even level.
It's also worth noting that short interest is up 16.6% in the last two reporting periods, representing a solid 10.5% of the stock's available float. In other words, it would take over six days to buy back these bearish bets at SAM's average pace of trading.
Analysts sentiment is mixed, with five of the nine in coverage carrying a "buy" or better rating, and four a "hold" or worse. Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $1,386 is a 42.8% premium to last night's close.
Over in the options pits, calls have been much more popular than usual. SAM's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.84 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) stands higher than 96% of readings from the past year.
These options can be had for a bargain, too. This is per the stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 36%, which stands higher than just 7% of all other readings in its annual range, implying that options players are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment.