Shares of Skechers USA Inc. (SKX) attained a new 52-week high of $31.57 on Nov 12, 2013, before closing at $31.56. Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock have amassed a year-to-date return of roughly 73.5%.
Based on the current price, this footwear retailer is 0.3% below the Zacks Consensus average analyst price target of $31.67. The company currently trades at a forward P/E of 30.4x, a 53.4% discount to the peer group average of 19.82x.
Investors remain optimistic about the stock’s performance following the company’s impressive third-quarter 2013 results posted on Oct 23, 2013. The quarterly earnings of 53 cents a share rose over twofold on a year-over-year basis, driven by strong sales across domestic and international wholesale operations as well as company-owned retail and e-Commerce businesses. Top-line also witnessed a sturdy growth of 20.1%.
With its focus on product launches, cost containment efforts, inventory management, global distribution platform and strong backlogs (up 19.7%), the company expects to sustain the growth momentum in the upcoming holiday season as well as in 2014.
Skechers’ store expansion initiatives are also noteworthy. In the quarter, the company has opened eight outlets each in domestic as well as international locations. These comprise new concept stores in New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico, 2 stores in Toronto and 1 in Leeds.
Skechers also opened 3 outlets in Spain and another one in Chile, bringing the total count to in the latter country to 22. Two stores in the U.S. locations were shuttered in the quarter. The company plans to open another 17 to 20 outlets in 2013 in the U.S., Chile, Canada and the U.K.
Apart from Skechers, other retail stocks such as DSW Inc. (DSW), Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. (DKS) and Fifth & Pacific Companies, Inc. (FNP) achieved new 52-week highs of $45.40, $55.09 and $30.28, respectively, on Nov 12, 2013.
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Get all Zacks Research Reports and be alerted to fast-breaking buy and sell opportunities every trading day.
Be the first to comment