Analysts at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) increased their rating on Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) on Friday to a buy rating from a neutral rating and increased their 12-month price target on the company’s stock to $60 from $58.
Goldman Sachs cited increased sales, improved expense control and expanding margins as the primary reasons for the retailer’s potential for an increase in earnings-per-share.
The analyst penned, “With the stock trading at its typical floor valuation, we see limited downside risk in the shares…With expectations seemingly muted, we believe the bar is low for [Wal-Mart], and any upside to consensus should lift shares and likely generate a return to normalized valuation levels.”
Wal-Mart shares rose about 2% during early morning trading on Monday morning to $53.58
