TJX Companies Stock Buy Recommendation Reiterated (TJX)

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of A+ . The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, revenue growth and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows low profit margins.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• Investors have apparently begun to recognize positive factors similar to those we have mentioned in this report, including earnings growth. This has helped drive up the company's shares by a sharp 65.20% over the past year, a rise that has exceeded that of the S&P 500 Index. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, TJX should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• TJX COMPANIES INC has improved earnings per share by 24.4% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, TJX COMPANIES INC increased its bottom line by earning $1.94 versus $1.65 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($2.46 versus $1.94).
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Specialty Retail industry average. The net income increased by 20.9% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $348.34 million to $421.09 million.
• Despite its growing revenue, the company underperformed as compared with the industry average of 9.6%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 8.7%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• Although TJX's debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23 is very low, it is currently higher than that of the industry average.

The TJX Companies, Inc. operates as an off-price apparel and home fashions retailer in the United States and internationally. The company has a P/E ratio of 20.5, below the average retail industry P/E ratio of 21 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. TJX Companies has a market cap of $33.42 billion and is part of the services sector and retail industry. Shares are up 42.8% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

You can view the full TJX Companies Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff.

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