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Macy's (M) Stock Moves -0.05%: What You Should Know

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Macy's (M - Free Report) closed at $37.77 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.05% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 0.92% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.77%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.65%.

Coming into today, shares of the department store operator had gained 17.58% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector lost 0.61%, while the S&P 500 lost 2.56%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from M as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be November 14, 2018. On that day, M is projected to report earnings of $0.13 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 43.48%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.44 billion, up 2.99% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.01 per share and revenue of $25.31 billion, which would represent changes of +6.37% and +1.91%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for M. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. M is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note M's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 9.43. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.7, which means M is trading at a discount to the group.

Also, we should mention that M has a PEG ratio of 1.11. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Retail - Regional Department Stores stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.29 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Retail - Regional Department Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 196, which puts it in the bottom 24% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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