Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Friday. The firm issued a buy rating on the specialty retailer's stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Nordstrom from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on Nordstrom from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on Nordstrom from $13.00 to $14.50 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Argus lowered shares of Nordstrom from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price target on shares of Nordstrom from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.92.

Nordstrom Price Performance

NYSE JWN traded down $0.06 on Friday, reaching $24.03. The company had a trading volume of 3,658,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,490,559. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $23.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.70. Nordstrom has a 12 month low of $16.78 and a 12 month high of $24.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.31 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65.

Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The specialty retailer reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.11. Nordstrom had a negative return on equity of 18.04% and a negative net margin of 1.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nordstrom will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordstrom Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Nordstrom's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JWN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Nordstrom by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 388,796 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $8,744,000 after acquiring an additional 89,114 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nordstrom by 29.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,294 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,152,000 after buying an additional 11,583 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nordstrom by 47.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,602 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 5,690 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Nordstrom by 160.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 51,071 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 31,498 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nordstrom in the third quarter valued at approximately $451,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.