Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $24.30 and last traded at $24.28, with a volume of 37794 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Nordstrom from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Nordstrom from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays raised Nordstrom from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Nordstrom from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nordstrom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.23.

Nordstrom Trading Up 0.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 2.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.44.

Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.88 billion. Nordstrom had a negative net margin of 1.44% and a negative return on equity of 21.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Nordstrom, Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Nordstrom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Nordstrom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Alexis Depree sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $464,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 169,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,928,479.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.78% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordstrom

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nordstrom by 66.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,661,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,251,000 after purchasing an additional 661,769 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Nordstrom by 5.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,653,007 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $215,936,000 after acquiring an additional 579,001 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Nordstrom by 38.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,479,414 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,393,000 after acquiring an additional 410,152 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Nordstrom in the second quarter valued at about $7,783,000. Finally, Axiom Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Nordstrom by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 1,100,864 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $24,456,000 after purchasing an additional 346,994 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.73% of the company’s stock.

About Nordstrom

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.