Deutsche Bank Comments on Nordstrom's (JWN) Q1

Deutsche Bank maintained a Buy rating on Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) and raised its price target to $72.00 (from $67.00). The change follows strong Q1 results.

Analyst Paul Trussell said, "1Q results positively surprised on multiple fronts: (1) JWN announced it is (finally) seeking a financial partner for its CC receivables (see analysis below); (2) SSS accelerated to 3.9% (2.6% in 4Q), overcoming unfavorable weather; (3) SG&A surprisingly leveraged; and (4) JWN repurchased over 3 million shares (not included in guidance). We believe shares have reached a point of inflection with valuation now beginning to reflect the company’s strong growth prospects, best in class online and off-price business segments, and higher end customer base. We are raising our PT to $72 from $67 on fundamentals, with the sale of the CC biz potentially additive by $8 to the stock."

"On page 3-6, we examine the potential value of the credit card sale and believe that a transaction would be materially accretive as cash proceeds are utilized mostly for buybacks. Important items to note: (a) only $300M of debt is currently securitized by the $2.1B in receivables opposed to our 2/14 SOTP assumption of 80%, (b) paying down a considerable amount of debt would take JWN well below its targeted leverage ratio as well as that of peers, and (c) JWN has already outlined its FY14-FY18 capital plans which is able to be fully funded by FCF. If sold for par and ~60% of interest in the portfolio is maintained (using TGT transaction as the comp), we calculate (see Figure 5) $0.47 of EPS accretion which at a multiple of 16x equates to ~$8," he added.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Nordstrom click here. For more ratings news on Nordstrom click here.

Shares of Nordstrom closed at $61.49 yesterday.

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