Barclays Neutral On Food & Staples Retailing Stocks

Barclays initiated the American food and staples retailing sector at Neutral. The brokerage cited negative sentiments on the sector, which dragged down several companies shares in the year-to-date period.

Significantly, SPDR S&P Retail (ETF) XRT, which tracks the retailing stocks, advanced 1.32 percent in the year-to-date period. For the current quarter-to-date, the ETF recorded 4.4 percent growth.

Barclays analysts, led by Karen Short, see the third quarter as challenging for the sector, citing the prior 10+ years hurt by deflationary pressures, which were not there since 1960. However, that did not deter the analysts to assigning an Overweight rating to three retail stocks including Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. WMT.

The brokerage rated 14 companies Equal Weight and assigned Underweight rating on two names in the retail sector in a pool of 19 companies.

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"This headwind coincides with Walmart's re-emergence as a disruptor, so the combination has the potential to wreak havoc on many companies in our universe. As a result, we believe many names will remain range-bound for the next several quarters," the analysts told clients in a research note.

The brokerage listed four quadrants to conclude its diverse coverage universe on the retail segment:

  • "Growth Stars."
  • "Stable Staples."
  • "In Transition."
  • "Attempting to Reinvent."

Based on this framework, Barclays rated the stocks after taking into consideration whether the specific retailer could go to market. Aside from this, the brokerage looked into the fact whether the retailer's capital-deployment tactics is appropriate and sustainable.

At time of writing, XRT was up 0.39 percent Friday, trading at $43.98.

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Posted In: Analyst ColorLong IdeasShort IdeasCommoditiesInitiationMarketsAnalyst RatingsTrading IdeasBarclaysfoodfood staplesKaren ShortretailStaples
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