Staples, Nordstrom: Ratings Upgrades
BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Nordstrom (JWN) - Get Nordstrom, Inc. Report, Weyerhaeuser (WY) - Get Weyerhaeuser Company Report and Staples (SPLS) were upgraded by TheStreet's stock model.
3.
The model upgraded upscale department store Nordstrom to "buy."
Quarter
: 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. indices. It trades at a price-to-projected-earnings ratio of 14, a 23% discount to the industry average. The shares are expensive based on book value and sales.
Consensus
: Of analysts covering Nordstrom, 11 advise purchasing its shares and 11 recommend holding them.
Jesup & Lamont
expects the stock to advance 17% to $51.
KeyBank
and
Citigroup
(C) - Get Citigroup Inc. Report
TheStreet Recommends
predict it will hit $50.
2.
The model upgraded timber company Weyerhaeuser to "hold."
Quarter
: Weyerhaeuser's fourth-quarter loss narrowed to $175 million, or 83 cents, from $1.2 billion, or $5.68, a year earlier. Revenue dropped 18%. The operating margin remained negative. Weyerhaeuser has $1.9 billion of cash and $5.7 billion of debt.
Stock
: Weyerhaeuser has advanced 48% during the past year, beating the
S&P 500 Index
. It sells for a price-to-projected-earnings ratio of 57 and a price-to-book ratio of 2.6, 109% and 60% discounts to peer averages. It's also expensive based on sales.
Consensus
: Of researchers following Weyerhaeuser, five, or 29%, rate its stock "buy," 10 rate it "hold" and two rank it "sell."
Barclays
(BCS) - Get Barclays Plc Report
expects it to hit $70, leaving a potential 38% return.
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Bank of America Corp Report
predicts it will touch $53.
1.
The model upgraded office-products seller Staples to "buy."
Quarter
: Fourth-quarter profit decreased 18% to $234 million, or 32 cents, as revenue ascended 3.8% to $6.4 billion. The operating margin inched up from 7.4% to 7.6%. The balance sheet stores $1.4 billion of cash and $2.6 billion of debt.
Stock
: Staples has risen 16% during the past 12 months, less than U.S. stock-market indices. It trades at a price-to-projected-earnings ratio of 15 and a price-to-book ratio of 2.6, 17% and 21% discounts to industry averages. It's also cheap based on cash flow.
Consensus
: Of firms rating Staples, 15, or 68%, advocate purchasing its shares, six recommend holding and one says to sell them.
Credit Suisse
(CS) - Get Credit Suisse Group AG Report
and
Jefferies
(JEF) - Get Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Report
project a share price of $29, leaving 19% of potential upside.
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-- Reported by Jake Lynch in Boston.
