Best Buy, Nordstrom, Polo Hit Highs

Best Buy, Nordstrom and Polo hit 52-week highs Thursday.
By Jake Lynch ,

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- U.S. stocks gained Thursday as home sales climbed and new jobless claims fell. Consumer-goods sellers Polo Ralph Lauren (RL) - Get Report, Nordstrom (JWN) - Get Report and Best Buy (BBY) - Get Report hit 52-week highs.

3.

Polo rose 2.3% to $95.01, hitting a high of $95.45. Shares of the apparel designer have gained 13% during the past month.

Quarter

: Fiscal third-quarter profit increased 5.5% to $111 million, or $1.10 a share, as revenue declined 0.7% to $1.2 billion. The operating margin expanded from 13% to 14%. Polo has $1.3 billion of cash and $298 million of debt.

Stock

: Polo has advanced 78% during the past year, outperforming U.S. indices. It trades at a price-to-book ratio of 3, a 27% discount to the industry average. It's fairly valued based on projected earnings, sales and cash flow. It pays a 0.4% dividend yield.

Consensus

: Of analysts covering Polo, six advise purchasing its shares, nine recommend holding and one suggests selling them.

Credit Suisse

(CS) - Get Report

expects the stock to climb 28% to $120.

Barclays

(BCS) - Get Report

predicts that it will hit $100.

2.

Nordstrom increased 3.7% to $45.34, achieving a high of $45.55. Shares of the high-end department store have gained 9.8% during the past month.

Quarter

: Fiscal fourth-quarter profit more than doubled to $172 million, or 77 cents a share, as revenue grew 11% to $2.6 billion. The operating margin extended from 6.5% to 12%. Nordstrom holds $795 million of cash and $2.6 billion of debt.

Stock

: Nordstrom has more than doubled during the past year, outperforming U.S. benchmarks. It sells for a price-to-projected-earnings ratio of 15, a 22% discount to the industry average. The shares are expensive based on book value and sales.

Consensus

: Of researchers covering Nordstrom, 11 rate its stock "buy" and 11 rate it "hold."

KeyBank

(KEY) - Get Report

and

Citigroup

(C) - Get Report

expect the shares to rise 12% to $50.

Deutsche Bank

(DB) - Get Report

predicts that they will climb 8% to $48.

1.

Best Buy climbed 2.2% to $47.19, hitting a high of $47.33. Shares of the electronics retailer have returned 15% during the past month.

Quarter

: Fiscal fourth-quarter profit increased 37% to $779 million, or $1.82, as revenue expanded 12%. The operating margin inched up from 7.6% to 7.8%. Best Buy has $1.9 billion of cash and $1.8 billion of debt, equaling a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.3.

Stock

: Best Buy has risen 19% during the past year, less than U.S. indices. It trades at a price-to-projected-earnings ratio of 12 and a price-to-sales ratio of 0.4, 34% and 61% discounts to peer averages. It's also cheap based on book value.

Consensus

: Of firms rating Best Buy, 17, or 57%, advocate purchasing its shares and 13 recommend holding them.

Piper Jaffray

(PJC) - Get Report

says the stock could gain 14% to $53.

UBS

(UBS) - Get Report

and

Raymond James

(RJF) - Get Report

expect it to hit $52.

View Stockpickr's Daily 52-Week Highs Portfolio

-- Reported by Jake Lynch in Boston.

Loading ...