Nordstrom

Retail spending continues to rise in the U.S., even with continued weakness in job and housing markets. That’s good news for these three leading department-store operators. All three should continue to benefit from the investments they have made in new stores, and in building their brands and online businesses.

MACY’S INC. $30 (New York symbol M, Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; …read more »

Nordstrom Inc., symbol JWN on New York, mainly sells upscale clothing, accessories and footwear. The company owns and operates 212 outlets in the United States. It expects to open another nine stores this year.

In March 2011, Nordstrom paid $180 million for HauteLook. The Los Angeles-based online retailer has more than 4 million members and annual sales of over $100 million. …read more »

HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. $42 (New York symbol HPQ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 2.2 billion; Market cap: $92.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.hp.com) has raised its quarterly dividend by 50.0%, to $0.12 a share from $0.08. The new annual rate of $0.48 yields 1.1%.

Like Verizon (later in this issue), Hewlett …read more »

NORDSTROM INC. $38 (New York symbol JWN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 219.2 million; Market cap: $8.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 2.1%; WSSF Rating: Average) mainly sells upscale clothing, accessories and footwear. The company owns and operates 200 outlets, including 115 department stores, in 28 U.S. states.

In its fiscal 2011 second quarter, which ended July …read more »

Clothing sales are rising as the economy continues to recover. However, fashion trends are fickle, and consumers are often quick to switch brands.

The six clothing designers and sellers we analyze below own some of the top brand names in the industry. That will help them keep increasing their sales. As well, all six cut costs during the recession. That will …read more »

NORDSTROM INC. $34 has raised its quarterly dividend by 25.0%, to $0.20 a share from $0.16. The new annual rate of $0.80 yields 2.4%. Buy.

ARKANSAS BEST CORP. $23 lost $0.30 a share in the three months ended June 30, 2010. That’s a big improvement over the $0.62 a share it lost in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue rose 13.4%, to …read more »

NORDSTROM INC. $38 (New York symbol JWN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 218.9 million; Market cap: $8.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 2.1%; WSSF Rating: Average) earned $0.52 a share in its first quarter, which ended May 1, 2010. That’s up 40.5% from $0.37 a share a year earlier. The upscale retailer continues to do a good …read more »

Department store operators Nordstrom, Macy’s and J.C. Penney have cut costs and slowed their expansion plans during the recession. Lower costs, plus their strong reputations and popular brands, should spur their earnings as the economy recovers.

NORDSTROM INC. $37 (New York symbol JWN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 217.5 million; Market cap: $8.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: …read more »

WESTERN UNION CO. $20 (New York symbol WU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 701.6 million; Market cap: $14 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; WSSF Rating: Above Average) has provided money-transfer services to Cuba since 1999. Cubans living in the U.S. can send money to close relatives in Cuba at over 3,000 of Western Union’s U.S. locations. The company also …read more »

NORDSTROM INC. $12 (New York symbol JWN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 215.4 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) earned $71 million in its third fiscal quarter ended November 1, 2008, down 57.2% from $166 million a year earlier. However, the year-earlier quarter included a $20.9 million after-tax gain on the sale of a division. Per-share …read more »