Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) in a report issued on Saturday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Nordstrom from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group raised Nordstrom from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $14.50 to $24.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Argus lowered shares of Nordstrom from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Nordstrom from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Nordstrom from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.90.

Nordstrom Price Performance

NYSE JWN opened at $24.23 on Friday. Nordstrom has a one year low of $16.79 and a one year high of $24.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.25 and a 200 day moving average of $23.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43 and a beta of 2.60.

Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.20. Nordstrom had a negative net margin of 1.57% and a negative return on equity of 18.04%. The firm had revenue of $4.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.32 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nordstrom will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Nordstrom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Nordstrom’s payout ratio is presently 44.19%.

Institutional Trading of Nordstrom

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pentwater Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Nordstrom during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $61,582,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nordstrom during the fourth quarter worth $56,026,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Nordstrom during the fourth quarter valued at $33,480,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nordstrom in the 4th quarter valued at $21,736,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Nordstrom by 147.4% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,218,365 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,401,000 after acquiring an additional 725,803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.73% of the company’s stock.

Nordstrom Company Profile

Nordstrom, Inc, a fashion retailer, provides apparels, shoes, beauty, accessories, and home goods for women, men, young adults, and children. It offers a range of brand-name and private-label merchandise through various channels, such as Nordstrom branded stores and online at Nordstrom.com; Nordstrom.ca; Nordstrom stores; Nordstrom Rack stores; Nordstrom Locals; ASOS; Nordstromrack.com; mobile application; and clearance stores under the Last Chance name.