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

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Target (TGT - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $140.75, moving +0.36% from the previous trading session. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.18%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.07%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.1%.

Shares of the retailer have appreciated by 3.74% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.45% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.75%.

The upcoming earnings release of Target will be of great interest to investors. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $2.38, showcasing a 25.93% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $31.88 billion, up 1.55% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $8.34 per share and revenue of $107.38 billion, which would represent changes of +38.54% and -1.6%, respectively, from the prior year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Target. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. 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 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 remained stagnant. Target presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Target is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 16.82. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 23.74, so one might conclude that Target is trading at a discount comparatively.

It is also worth noting that TGT currently has a PEG ratio of 1.19. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Retail - Discount Stores industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.2 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 98, placing it within the top 39% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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