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

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In the latest trading session, Target (TGT - Free Report) closed at $113.71, marking a +0.8% move from the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.69%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.22%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.91%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the retailer had gained 4.58% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 1.18% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.61% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from TGT as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.17, up 7.34% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $18.47 billion, up 3.62% 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 $78.33 billion. These totals would mark changes of +14.1% and +3.95%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for TGT. 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.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.41% higher. TGT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Digging into valuation, TGT currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 18.34. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 24.03.

Investors should also note that TGT has a PEG ratio of 2.59 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. The Retail - Discount Stores industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.5 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 9, which puts it in the top 4% 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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