Shares of Finish Line Inc. surged 6.0% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the athletic shoe and apparel retailer was upgraded at Susquehanna Financial, which said it believes a buyout is likely. Analyst Sam Poser raised his rating to positive, after being at neutral for the past 10 months, and raised his stock price target to $12 from $9. Despite the fact that Finish Line adopted last month a “poison pill” in an attempt to fend off acquirers, Poser said he believes there is a 75% probability that the U.K.’s Sports Direct will buy Finish Line at about $13.30. Poser believes current share prices reflects only about a 30% probability that Finish Line is acquired. The stock traded at $10.32 ahead of the open, or 25% above the 8-year closing low of $8.24 on Aug. 30, which came on the heels of a profit and sales warning. The stock has plunged 33% over the past three months through Tuesday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has slipped 0.8% and the S&P 500 has gained 2.3%.
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