Wolverine World Wide hits year high after 3Q beat

Wolverine World Wide shares hit 12-month high after 3Q results; analyst upgrades on outlook

• On 12:53 pm EDT, Thursday October 8, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Wolverine World Wide Inc. hit a 12-month high Thursday, a day after posting third-quarter results that bested analysts' expectations and boosting its guidance for the year.

Sterne Agee analyst Sam Poser raised his rating on the shoe maker, whose brands include Hush Puppies and Patagonia, to "Buy" from "Neutral," saying its sales may have bottomed and its outlook on margins is improving.

Poser also set a $31 price target on the stock, which implies upside of 17.4 percent from its closing price Wednesday.

Wolverine shares rose $1.64, or 6.2 percent, to $28.04 in midday trading after earlier peaking at $28.31. They had changed hands between $13.15 and $27.25 in the past 12 months.

Revenue is still "a struggle," Poser said in a note to investors, but lower prices on supplies, strong cost controls and inventory management leave the company in a good position to reap the profits once orders pick up.

On Wednesday, the company posted adjusted earnings -- excluding 8 cents per share in restructuring charges -- of 62 cents per share, topping analysts' expectations of a profit of 56 cents per share. Wolverine also raised its 2009 adjusted profit outlook to $1.65 to $1.75 per share from a previous guidance of $1.55 to $1.73 per share; analysts expected net income of $1.70 per share.

It also narrowed its annual sales outlook to a range of $1.08 billion to $1.11 billion, from a prior forecast of $1.07 billion to $1.12 billion. Analysts expect full-year sales of $1.12 billion.

Poser boosted his 2010 profit estimate to $2.05 per share from $1.91 per share, which was also the Wall Street average estimate.

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