J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP): Today's Featured Retail Loser

J.C. Penney ( JCP) pushed the Retail industry lower today making it today's featured Retail loser. The industry as a whole closed the day up 0.2%. By the end of trading, J.C. Penney fell 33 cents (-1.7%) to $19.25 on average volume. Throughout the day, 9.6 million shares of J.C. Penney exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 8.2 million shares. The stock ranged in price between $19.09-$19.68 after having opened the day at $19.61 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $19.58. Other company's within the Retail industry that declined today were: SUPERVALU ( SVU), down 8.1%, E-Commerce China Dangdang ( DANG), down 6.5%, Vitacost.com ( VITC), down 4.8%, and Christopher & Banks Corporation ( CBK), down 4.6%.

• ACTIVE STOCK TRADERS: Check out TheStreet's special offer for Real Money, headlined by Jim Cramer, now!

J. C. Penney Company, Inc., through its subsidiary, J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc., operates department stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company sells family apparel and footwear, accessories, fine and fashion jewelry, beauty products, and home furnishings. J.C. Penney has a market cap of $4.38 billion and is part of the services sector. Shares are down 44.3% year to date as of the close of trading on Monday. Currently there are four analysts that rate J.C. Penney a buy, one analyst rates it a sell, and eight rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates J.C. Penney as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and weak operating cash flow.

• You can view the full J.C. Penney Ratings Report.

On the positive front, Acorn International ( ATV), up 9.5%, Tuesday Morning Corporation ( TUES), up 8.8%, Urban Outfitters ( URBN), up 3.7%, and Abercrombie & Fitch ( ANF), up 3%, were all gainers within the retail industry with Kohl's ( KSS) being today's featured retail industry winner.

• Use our retail section to find industry-relevant news.
• Or find some new ideas from our top rated stocks lists.

For investors not wanting singular stock exposure, ETFs may be of interest. Investors who are bullish on the retail industry could consider SPDR S&P Retail ETF ( XRT) while those bearish on the retail industry could consider ProShares Ultra Sht Consumer Goods ( SZK).

• Find other investment ideas from our top rated ETFs lists.