Macy's (M) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

Macy's (M) closed at $17.97 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.91% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.06%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.05%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.55%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the department store operator had lost 23.06% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 6.15% and the S&P 500's loss of 8.3% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Macy's as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.89, down 31.01% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.53 billion, down 2.15% from the year-ago period.

M's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.65 per share and revenue of $24.63 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -12.43% and +0.71%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Macy's. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. Macy's is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Macy's is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 3.94. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 5.43, which means Macy's is trading at a discount to the group.

Meanwhile, M's PEG ratio is currently 0.33. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Retail - Regional Department Stores was holding an average PEG ratio of 0.57 at yesterday's closing price.

The Retail - Regional Department Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 99, putting it in the top 40% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow M in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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