Big Lots (NYSE: BIG)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by Zacks in a report issued on Tuesday. They currently have a $39.00 target price on the stock.
Zacks’ analyst wrote, “Big Lots’ first-quarter 2012 earnings of $0.68 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny and dropped 2.9% from the year-ago quarter. Excluding the Canadian operations, earnings came in at $0.77 per share up from $0.70 in the prior-year period. Based on the results, management now expects fiscal 2012 earnings to be in the range of $3.25 to $3.40 per share down from $3.40 to 3.50 forecasted earlier, and reflects a year-over-year growth of 9% to 14%. Total revenue during the quarter grew 5.5% to $1,294.5 million. The closeout format gives the company an edge over traditional discount retailers as customers are offered merchandise assortments at very low prices. From a merchandise perspective, Furniture and Hardlines performed well but Consumables and Electronics portrays sluggish performance. Given the sluggish economic recovery, the company intends to focus on Consumables category. Currently, we maintain our Neutral recommendation on the stock.”
Shares of Big Lots traded up 1.97% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.85. Big Lots has a one year low of $28.89 and a one year high of $47.22. The company has a market cap of $2.427 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.68.
Big Lots last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Big Lots’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Big Lots will post $0.14 earnings per share next quarter.
A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on BIG. Analysts at Barclays Capital (NYSE: BCS) reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Big Lots in a research note to investors on Thursday, May 24th. Separately, analysts at Benchmark Co. cut their price target on shares of Big Lots from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research note to investors on Thursday, May 24th. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, analysts at MKM Partners cut their price target on shares of Big Lots from $49.00 to $43.00 in a research note to investors on Thursday, May 24th. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
Big Lots, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is a North America’s closeout retailer. At January 28, 2012, the Company operated a total of 1,533 stores in two countries: the United States and Canada.
