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Target (TGT) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Target (TGT - Free Report) closed at $156.22, marking a +0.06% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.56%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.41%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.35%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the retailer had lost 5.67% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 2.65% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.48% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Target as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect Target to post earnings of $1.76 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 19.63%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $25.36 billion, up 0.77% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $8.45 per share and revenue of $111.27 billion, which would represent changes of +40.37% and +1.97%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates 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 shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 11.87% lower within the past month. Target currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Target currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 18.48. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 20.64.

It is also worth noting that TGT currently has a PEG ratio of 1.24. 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. TGT's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.92 as of yesterday's close.

The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 183, putting it in the bottom 28% 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.

To follow TGT in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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