In the latest market close, Target (TGT) reached $95.72, with a +1.53% movement compared to the previous day. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 5.98% for the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 5.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 5.82%.
The retailer's shares have seen a decrease of 17.34% over the last month, not keeping up with the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 8.75% and the S&P 500's loss of 7.66%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Target in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $1.79, reflecting a 11.82% decrease from the same quarter last year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $24.6 billion, indicating a 0.27% upward movement from the same quarter last year.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $9.18 per share and revenue of $107.69 billion. These totals would mark changes of +3.61% and +1.05%, respectively, from last year.
Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for Target. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.6% downward. Target is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Target is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.27. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 20.48, so one might conclude that Target is trading at a discount comparatively.
We can additionally observe that TGT currently boasts a PEG ratio of 1.62. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Retail - Discount Stores industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.67.
The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 165, placing it within the bottom 34% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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Target Corporation (TGT): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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