Sears Holdings Corp Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks (SHLD)
Sears Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: SHLD) was upgraded by Zacks from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. The firm currently has a $54.00 price target on the stock.
Zacks‘ analyst wrote, “Based on the company’s strong fourth-quarter fiscal 2012 results, we upgraded our long-term recommendation on Sears to Outperform. Sears’ fourth-quarter adjusted earnings jumped over two fold to $1.12 per share. The favorable bottom-line comparisons from last year resulted from Sears’ ongoing cost reduction initiatives, which lowered selling and administrative expenses during the quarter. Sears is trying hard to optimize its financial performance through a string of measures for enhancing its growth prospects. Currently, the company is focusing on improving its organizational structure by slashing investment in sections that no longer contribute significantly to its growth. Apart from this, Sears is also focusing on cost containment, inventory management and merchandise initiatives to improvise margins. We believe that the company’s strategy of capitalizing on opportunities, while increasing profitability through its revamped organizational structure and new operating model, will boost its top and bottom lines.”
SHLD has been the subject of a number of other recent research reports. Analysts at Credit Suisse reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Sears Holdings Corp in a research note to investors on Monday. They now have a $20.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Desjardins cut their price target on shares of Sears Holdings Corp from $9.00 to $8.50 in a research note to investors on Thursday, February 28th. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, and two have given a sell rating to the stock. Sears Holdings Corp presently has an average rating of “underweight” and a consensus target price of $20.00.
Shares of Sears Holdings Corp traded up 1.80% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.77. Sears Holdings Corp has a 52 week low of $38.40 and a 52 week high of $85.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $46.76. The company’s market cap is $5.296 billion.
Sears Holdings Corp last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 28th. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $12.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Sears Holdings Corp will post $-3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Sears Holdings Corporation (Holdings) is the parent company of Kmart Holding Corporation (Kmart) and Sears, Roebuck and Co (Sears).
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