Why Kevin Plank's Sales Are Nothing For Under Armour Shareholders To Sweat

Under Armour Inc UA shareholders shouldn’t be too concerned about CEO Kevin Plank selling more than 2 million shares of Under Armour stock. According to Baird analyst Jonathan Komp, Plank has been selling for years and his timing hasn’t been particularly good.

“In fact, we estimated that UA’s stock has returned an average of +5 percent during the 9 days following the historical sales since 2011 and that the stock has been positive over the 90-days post sale in about two-thirds of the occasions,” Komp explained.

“Separately, we think UA is having a relatively good Back to School period,” he added.

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463% Since 2011

Komp points out that Plank's sale was planned ahead of time and represents just about 3 percent of the CEO’s total stake in the company. Plank has sold at least $50 million in Under Armour stock in each year since 2011. In that time, Under Armour’s stock is up 463 percent.

Komp is urging investors to buy the recent weakness in Under Armour, and Baird maintains its positive stance on the stock. The firm has an Outperform rating on Under Armour and a $55 price target. That target represents about 41 percent upside from current levels.

So far this year, Under Armour has severely lagged the market, returning -3.0 percent year-to-date.

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