Nordstrom Go-Private Deal Likely, But The Stock Is A Buy Either Way

Shares of Nordstrom, Inc. JWN traded higher by more than 5 percent on Wednesday after a CNBC report suggested the namesake family is closing in on a potential deal with a private equity firm to take the company private.

While the likelihood of take-private transaction occurring is "likely" the stock is attractive if no deal is finalized, KeyBanc Capital Markets' Edward Yruma commented in a research report. The analyst maintains an Overweight rating on Nordstrom's stock with an unchanged $55 price target.

Nordstrom's management team understands the importance of embracing machine learning, cloud, artificial intelligence and other new-age technology features to offer a superior experience to consumers, Yruma commented. The company is also merging in-store and online data, which has resulted in improvements to search and recommendation results.

"The Company wants to own technology that is IP accretive and core to strategy, but will partner with best-in-class solutions," Yruma explained.

Nordstrom's newest store concept, called Nordstrom Local, represents another bullish element to the retailer's story, the analyst continued. The new store concept won't carry any merchandise but will create a "more convenient physical retail experience" while also being less capital intensive.

Finally, under a bull case scenario, Nordstrom would be bought out by the namesake family at a price of $60 per share (see Yruma's track record here). A non-take out scenario would value Nordstrom's stock at $55 per share, which implies a 18.6x 2017 P/E multiple, which is a premium to the 13.5x P/E for the specialty retail/department store peer group.

At last check, shares of Nordstrom were up 6.19 percent at $47.84.

Related Links:

Nordstrom Remains A Bright Spot In A Dismal Quarter For Retail

Can Nordstrom Or Office Depot Rise Above Low Retail Earnings Expectations? _________ Image Credit: By Coolcaesar at the English language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons