Cowen Targets New Highs for Yeti Stock Ahead of Earnings

Bearish traders have been targeting Yeti in recent weeks, though

Analysts are overwhelmingly bullish on Yeti Holdings Inc (NYSE:YETI) ahead of the company's second-quarter earnings report, due out before the open next Thursday, Aug. 1. While 10 of 11 covering firms maintain a "buy" or better rating on the stock, the average 12-month price target of $36.92 is a 14.4% premium to last night's close at $32.28. And just this morning, Cowen and Company raised its YETI stock price target to $37 from $35 -- uncharted territory for the shares.

In fact, the highest Yeti has ever traded is $36.60, tagged on April 30, and the security has yet to close above the key $36 level -- double its $18 per share initial public offering (IPO) price from late October. However, the stock has been trending higher since bouncing from its 120-day moving average in early June, and more recently has found a foothold in the $32 region. YETI could test this region today, down 0.2% in electronic trading.

Options traders have been positioning for downside ahead of Yeti's earnings report. The August 35 put has seen the biggest increase in open interest over the past 10 days, with more than 3,000 contracts added, and data from Trade-Alert points to buy-to-open activity here.

The skepticism has been ramping up elsewhere on Wall Street, too, with short interest spiking 34% in the two most recent reporting periods to 17.3 million shares. This represents more than one-fifth of YETI stock's available float, or 9.9 times the average daily pace of trading.

Yeti has reported earnings three times as a public company. The stock dropped 8.8% after the cooler maker's May report, and 16.1% following in November. After the company's February results, though, YETI shares surged 17.4% the next day.