NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Big Lots (BIG) - Get Report are up 5.07% to $50.98 in early afternoon trading on Monday after Barclays increased its price target to $53 from $45, while maintaining an "equal weight" rating. 

"Our view of Big Lots is mixed, with a very positive view of management and its efforts to turn the business around, and a more cautious view on medium-to-longer term growth prospects," analysts said. 

In the short term, Barclays said that the closeout retailer must invest in e-commerce to be competitive. In the longer term, the firm noted that it still struggles to understand where Big Lots fits into the entire retailing spectrum, and this is important since earnings growth outlook depends greatly on improving sales productivity.

The company is generating good comp growth in its key categories: furniture, soft home, food, consumables (cleaning supplies, paper towels), and seasonal.

"We think there is still meaningful opportunity to improve the shopping experience, and this is getting great focus from management," Barclays said. 

Big Lots reported fourth quarter earnings of $1.76 per share in 2014, two cents ahead of Barclays estimates.  

The firm is lowering its first quarter earnings estimates to 57 cents from 60 cents per share, but raising their 2015 fiscal year earnings to $2.83 from $2.81 cents per share.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates BIG LOTS INC as a Hold with a ratings score of C+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate BIG LOTS INC (BIG) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, increase in net income and revenue growth. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including disappointing return on equity and feeble growth in the company's earnings per share."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Multiline Retail industry. The net income increased by 63.8% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from -$9.52 million to -$3.44 million.
• Despite its growing revenue, the company underperformed as compared with the industry average of 3.4%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 0.2%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
• 38.93% is the gross profit margin for BIG LOTS INC which we consider to be strong. Regardless of BIG's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year.
• BIG LOTS INC has experienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. The company has reported a trend of declining earnings per share over the past year. However, the consensus estimate suggests that this trend should reverse in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, BIG LOTS INC reported lower earnings of $2.38 versus $2.98 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($2.47 versus $2.38).
• The company's current return on equity has slightly decreased from the same quarter one year prior. This implies a minor weakness in the organization. Compared to other companies in the Multiline Retail industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, BIG LOTS INC has underperformed in comparison with the industry average, but has exceeded that of the S&P 500.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: BIG Ratings Report