Zacks Value Investor Highlights: Lululemon, Ulta Beauty, Williams-Sonoma, Oxford Industries and Home Depot

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – April 3, 2020 – Zacks Value Investor is a podcast hosted weekly by Zacks Stock Strategist Tracey Ryniec. Every week, Tracey will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life. To listen to the podcast, click here:

(https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/850961/retail-stocks-values-after-the-coronavirus-selloff)

Retail Stocks: Values After the Coronavirus Selloff?

Welcome to Episode #184 of the Value Investor Podcast.

Every week, Tracey Ryniec, the editor of Zacks Value Investor portfolio, shares some of her top value investing tips and stock picks.

With the stock market sell-off, there are more value stocks.

Other than the leisure and hospitality and airline industries, the retailers are among the hardest hit by the coronavirus as many have closed all of their brick and mortar stores in the United States, resulting in the furloughing of many employees.

Advertising and other costs are being cut, along with dividends and share buybacks.

Many retailers have already tapped their revolving lines of credit so that they would have cash on hand.

The shares have plunged in the coronavirus sell-off.

Should Investors Dip into Some of the Retail Stocks?

With the recent sell-off, many investors are wondering if there’s value in the shares.

Do they have low P/Es now?

Should value investors be diving into some of them?

The retail group encompasses many different types of retailers including the department stores, the supermarkets, the big box retailers, the home and furniture stores, discounters, auto retailers, shoes, apparel and electronics.

This podcast focused on the retailers who aren’t selling groceries, which is booming during the crisis.

Buy Strength

If you’re going to dive in, buy the retailers who were crushing it before the coronavirus disrupted the global economy.

Buy the best.

Prior to the virus, consumer confidence was high. Unemployment was low. The stock market was at all-time highs over the holiday season.

Good retailers were putting up great numbers.

Bad retailers were putting up bad numbers.

You want to buy the strongest companies you can during the crisis.

And if you can get them on sale, even better.

5 Retailers for Value Investors to Put on Their Short List

1. Lululemon (LULU) recently reported fourth quarter results, which is the holiday quarter, and had the best comparable sales results of anyone in retail: up 20%. The company has brand momentum. And it has experience dealing with the virus, as it had stores shut down in China. All of them have now re-opened. Shares have fallen 21% year-to-date. Is it cheap enough to take a look?

2. Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) (ULTA) has been one of the top retailers for several years as it operates one of the best loyalty programs in retail. While its stores are closed, it has a strong online business. Shares are down 35% year-to-date. Is Ulta a value stock?

3. Williams-Sonoma (WSM) has the hottest brand in furniture: West Elm. West Elm posted a 13.9% comparable sales number in the fourth quarter while the entire company saw 7.6%. On its Q4 conference call, it said that online sales had surged in the first week of the state shutdowns. The company is still paying its dividend, currently yielding 4.5%. After shares plunged 47%, is it a value?

4. Oxford Industries (OXM) has two hot brands: Lily Pulitzer and Tommy Bahama. In its recent fourth quarter earnings report, it did announce a cut to its dividend to $0.25 from $0.37. But that is still yielding 2.7% as the shares have plunged 55% year-to-date. Fiscal 2020 earnings estimates have been slashed, but is the valuation still attractive?

5. Home Depot (NYSE:HD) (HD) has been one of the top retailers for several years as people continue to invest in their homes through home renovation. Will this increase after we are all stuck in our homes for weeks? Shares have fallen 18% year-to-date. Is this an opportunity to get one of the best retailers on the cheap?

What about those retailers whose stock has plunged and is now under $5?

Should investors consider those too?

Find out the answer to these questions and more on this week’s podcast.

[In full disclosure, Tracey owns ULTA, LULU, and WSM in her own personal portfolio.]

Today's Best Stocks from Zacks

Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2019, while the S&P 500 gained and impressive +53.6%, five of our strategies returned +65.8%, +97.1%, +118.0%, +175.7% and even +186.7%.

This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 – 2019, while the S&P averaged +6.0% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +54.7% per year.

See their latest picks free >>

Tracey Ryniec is the Value Stock Strategist for Zacks.com. She is also the Editor of the Insider Trader and Value Investor services. You can follow her on twitter at @TraceyRyniec and she also hosts the Zacks Market Edge Podcast on iTunes.

About Zacks

acks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Click here for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook (NASDAQ:FB): https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com

https://www.zacks.com/performance

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

The Home Depot, Inc. (HD): Free Stock Analysis Report

Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA): Free Stock Analysis Report

lululemon athletica inc. (LULU): Free Stock Analysis Report

Oxford Industries, Inc. (OXM): Free Stock Analysis Report

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSM): Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research