Shares of Foot Locker, Inc. (FL) touched a new 52-week high of $39.22 on Nov 29, 2013 and eventually closed trade at $38.89. The stock gained momentum from the company’s better-than-expected third-quarter fiscal 2013 results. This apparel-footwear and accessories retailer has amassed a year-to-date return of nearly 26.0%.
The average volume of shares traded over the last 3 months was approximately 1,911.7K. Moreover, the company currently trades at a forward P/E of 14.0x, a 16.9% discount to the peer group average of 16.85x. The last traded price is 10.0% below the Zacks Consensus average analyst price target of $43.22. Additionally, the company’s long-term estimated earnings per share (EPS) growth rate is 9.5%.
Investors are optimistic about this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock as it posted EPS of 68 cents that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny and rose 7.9% year over year. Driven by solid comparable-store sales (comps) performance, Foot Locker’s sales for the quarter rose 6.4% year over year to $1,622 million and handily surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,586 million.
The year-over-year growth in bottom line was primarily driven by strong top-line performance, effective cost management and fall in share count.
Foot Locker’s expansion strategy is also impressive. The company opened 28 stores and remodeled/relocated 118 stores, while it shut 13 stores during the third quarter. As of Nov 2, Foot Locker operated 3,510 stores across 23 countries in North America, Europe, and Australia. Apart from this, the company has 45 franchised Foot Locker stores in the Middle East and South Africa. Moreover, in Germany and Switzerland, Foot Locker has 27 franchised Runners Point and Sidestep stores.
Further, Foot Locker’s history of positive earnings surprises also convinces investors about its future performance. We observe that the company has beaten the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the past 10 quarters by an average of 3.8%.
Apart from Foot Locker, other retail stocks such as Macy's, Inc. (M), V.F. Corporation (VFC) and Tiffany & Co. (TIF) achieved new 52-week highs of $54.07, $237.18 and $89.72, respectively, on Nov 29, 2013.
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