Athletic footwear and apparel retailer Foot Locker, Inc. (FL) on Tuesday caught a big upgrade from analysts at Deutsche Bank.

The firm said it boosted its rating on FL to “Buy” with a $38 price target, suggesting a 17% upside to the stock’s Friday closing price of $32.42.

A Deutsche Bank analyst commtned, “All cylinders are firing for FL with a much better-than-expected start to FY12 on the top-line (+9.7% SSS) and margins (up 247 bps). Strength in the athletic footwear cycle combined with management’s track record gives us confidence that these impressive gains can continue, especially given unique product launches expected to coincide with the Euro Championships and Olympics. Our previous concerns regarding trends in Europe, LFL, and CCS banners were mitigated by each now running positive SSS. At 11.8x FY13E EPS along with a 2.2% dividend yield, shares of FL look attractive.”

Foot Locker shares rose $1.35, or +4.2%, in premarket trading Tuesday.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Foot Locker (FL) have a 2.22% dividend yield, based on Friday’s closing stock price of $32.42. The stock has technical support in the $28-$30 price area. The shares are trading right near all-time highs.

Foot Locker, Inc. (FL) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.