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

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In the latest trading session, Target (TGT - Free Report) closed at $109.27, marking a +1.22% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.56%. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.19%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.67%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the retailer had 0% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 3.42% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.22% in that time.

TGT will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.17, up 7.34% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $18.47 billion, up 3.66% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.15 per share and revenue of $78.34 billion. These totals would mark changes of +14.1% and +3.96%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for TGT should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.34% higher. TGT is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.

Looking at its valuation, TGT is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 17.56. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 23.14.

Also, we should mention that TGT has a PEG ratio of 2.48. 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 - Discount Stores stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.39 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 14, which puts it in the top 6% 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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