Oxford Industries, Inc. (OXM) has put together a nice earnings surprise streak over the last 4 quarters despite the tough retail environment. It has surprised on average of 67% during that period. OXM is trading with a forward P/E of 14.6.

Company Description

Oxford Industries is an apparel manufacturer which operates a large portfolio of owned and licensed brands such as Tommy Bahama, Ben Sherman, Billy London, Ely and Oxford Golf. It also operates retail stores and Internet sites under those brands and sells wholesale to national chains, specialty catalogs and department stores.

Oxford also holds exclusive licenses to produce and sell some items under the Kenneth Cole, Geoffrey Beene and Dockers labels.

Oxford Industries Surprised By 50% in the Third Quarter

On Dec 9, Oxford Industries reported its third quarter results and easily blew by the Zacks Consensus by 18 cents. Earnings per share were 27 cents compared to the Zacks Consensus of 18 cents but this was still under the 31 cents reported in the year ago quarter.

Sales also fell year over year to $200.5 million from $244.2 million in the third quarter of 2008. Inventory control was a big factor in the earnings surprise as it fell 23% as of Oct 31, 2009 compared to inventories as of Nov 1, 2008.

Additionally, the company saw some sales growth in the Tommy Bahamas retail stores in the months of September, October and November as well as better Internet sales which was encouraging even though overall sales in the brand were down compared to the year ago period. The wholesale environment continued to be difficult which dragged down the overall sales.

Raised Fiscal 2009 Guidance

Oxford Industries revised its guidance higher with earnings per share now expected to be between $1.20 to $1.25 up from the prior guidance of 90 cents to $1.05. Sales are forecast to be in the range of $790 million to $800 million which is higher than the prior forecast of $765 million to $800 million.

Given the revised guidance in December, the analysts also raised estimates to match. The fourth quarter Zacks Consensus rose 8 cents to 14 cents per share in the last 60 days.

The fiscal 2009 Zacks Consensus jumped 21.4% to $1.25 per share from $1.03 in the last 2 months.

Analysts are bullish about fiscal 2010 expecting 25.2% earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus climbed 31 cents to $1.57 per share in prior 2 months.

Value Fundamentals

Oxford Industries is a Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) stock. It has a price-to-book ratio of 2.8. The company also has a solid 5-year return on equity (ROE) of 12.51%.

Oxford Industries has also been rewarding shareholders with a dividend every single quarter since 1960. It currently yields 2.00%.

Tracey Ryniec is the Value Stock Strategist for Zacks.com. She is also the Editor in charge of the market-beating Zacks Value Trader service.

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