On or around Sept. 6, Callaway Golf will officially be called Topgolf Callaway Brands
Callaway Golf Co (NYSE:ELY) yesterday announced plans for a new corporate name: TopGolf Callaway Brands. The name change will officially occur on Sept. 6, with the company saying, "With the change, our new corporate identity will reinforce the opportunities that are anchored in our strong heritage business, and at the same time build important awareness for our strategic shift towards exciting new ventures in the Modern Golf and active lifestyle segments." In addition, the ELY ticker will change to MODG.
Callaway Golf stock was last seen up 0.6% to trade at $23.15 in response. The shares have managed to dig out of their May 10 two-year bottom of $17.78, adding 16.7% in the last three months. Still, year-to-date, ELY is down 16.1%, which is notable when considering 11 of 12 brokerages rate the stock a "buy" or better, with zero "sells" on the books.
The fight back into the black for 2022 could be fueled by a short squeeze. Short interest is down 4% in the last two weeks, and the 13.57 million shares sold short account for 10.3% of ELY's available float -- or over seven days of pent-up buying power, at the stock's average pace of trading.
Short-term options traders are operating with a call-bias. This is per Callaway Golf's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio of 0.26, which stands higher than just 14% of readings in its annual range.
For options traders, its notable ELY ranks low on the Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS), with a score of just 5 out of 100. In other words, the security has consistently realized lower volatility than its options have priced in, making the stock a potential premium-selling candidate.