5 Best Retail Stocks for 2021

In this article we discuss the 5 best retail stocks for 2021. If you want to read our detailed analysis of these stocks, go directly to the 10 Best Retail Stocks for 2021.

5. Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a general merchandise retailer in the US. The company offers food assortments, dry grocery, dairy, apparel, home décor, electronics, toys, and a range of other products. It ranks 5th on our list of the best retails stocks for 2021.

On June 8th, UBS upgraded Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) to a Buy after witnessing structural improvements in the company. The price target was hiked to $265 from $210. In the first quarter of 2021, the company’s EPS was valued at $0.59, beating estimates by $0.19. Its revenue came in at $19.61 billion, representing an 11.28% growth year over year and beating estimates by $576.64 million. Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) has a gross profit margin of 30.1% and has gained 35.89% in the past 6 months and 33.81% year to date.

By the end of the first quarter of 2021, 60 hedge funds out of the 866 tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT), worth roughly $4.76 billion. This is compared to the previous quarter’s 78 hedge fund holders with a total stake value of roughly $4.06 billion.

LRT Capital Management, an investment management firm, mentioned Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) in their first quarter 2021 investor letter. Here’s what they said:

“Target, the Minneapolis-based retailer, continues to fire on all cylinders as the company has reported two quarters in a row of +20% revenue growth (5% traffic growth + 15% average basket size6 ), coupled with the strongest EBITDA margins in over four years. The company has successfully navigated the Covid-19 pandemic with online sales growing by 155% and 118% during Q3 2020 and Q4, respectively.

On March 2nd, the company reported another stellar quarter, with same-store sales growing by over 20%, and both earnings (+57% YoY) and revenues (+21% YoY) beating estimates. The shares are up 14.11% year-to-date. We believe the shares are a bargain 23x trailing and 20x forward earnings.”