Morgan Stanley downgraded NCR to "equal-weight"
Following Friday's 20.3% plummet, shares of NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR) are headed even lower on a bear note from Morgan Stanley. The brokerage firm downgraded NCR stock to "equal-weight" from "overweight" and lowered its price target by $11 to $27, noting that the company's plans to split into two separate, independently traded units -- which spurred Friday's pullback -- could take a long time to enhance value.
At last check, NCR was 1.6% lower, trading at $22.84. The aforementioned dip saw the equity turn in second-worst weekly performance in at least 10 years, and it now sits more than 42% lower year-to-date. Now trading at its lowest level since November 2020, NCR stock is saddled with a more than 42% year-to-date deficit.
The brokerage bunch is wholly bullish on the equity, leaving plenty of room for additional bear notes to roll in. In fact, all seven of the covering brokerages called the security a "strong buy" or "buy," coming into today. What's more, the 12-month consensus price target of $39.14 is a hefty 68.7% premium to current levels to Friday's close, indicating space for more price-target cuts.
It's also worth noting that short interest has dropped 11.1% over the last month. The 10.93 million shares sold short now represent 8.4% of NCR's available float, and it would take nearly five days to buy back these bearish bets at NCR's average pace of trading.