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

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Target (TGT - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $72.77, moving +0.46% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.47% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.68%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.74%.

Heading into today, shares of the retailer had gained 3.96% over the past month, lagging the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 6.95% and the S&P 500's gain of 7.71% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from TGT as it approaches its next earnings release. 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, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $23.15 billion, up 1.67% from the year-ago period.

It is also important to note the 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. 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.26% lower. TGT is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, TGT is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 12.97. 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 2.17 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 1.46 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 64, putting it in the top 26% 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.

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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