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Target (TGT) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Target (TGT - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $70.15, moving -1.03% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.07% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.21%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.13%.

Heading into today, shares of the retailer had gained 3.79% over the past month, outpacing the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.42% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 5.36% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from TGT as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be March 5, 2019. On that day, TGT is projected to report earnings of $1.53 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 11.68%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $23.15 billion, up 1.67% from the prior-year quarter.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for TGT. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.26% lower. TGT is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Digging into valuation, TGT currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 12.69. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.75.

Investors should also note that TGT has a PEG ratio of 2.12 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. TGT's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.46 as of yesterday's close.

The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 91, which puts it in the top 36% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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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