Topic: Growth Stocks

Jones Apparel Group Inc. $30 – New York symbol JNY

JONES APPAREL GROUP INC. $30 (New York symbol JNY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 108.9 million; Market cap: $3.3 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) designs clothing, accessories and footwear under several brands, including Jones New York, Gloria Vanderbilt and Nine West.

Jones is also suffering from the Federated merger and the growth of private label clothing in most big department stores.

In the first quarter of 2007, profits before unusual items fell 24.2%, to $0.50 a share from $0.66 a year earlier. Sales crept up to $1.25 billion from $1.22 billion, due to an extra week in the most recent quarter.

Like Liz Claiborne, Jones now plans to sell some of its low-margin brands. These businesses accounted for just $300 million of its annual sales. The company is also cutting its production costs, but it could take a year or two before it realizes the full benefits of this plan.

Jones operates nearly 400 of its own retail stores, which supply roughly 30% of its total sales. This includes the Barneys New York chain, which sells upscale fashions and is Jones’s fastest-growing retail operation.

The stock moved up recently on rumors that Jones planned to sell Barneys, and use the cash to buy back stock or invest in new brands. However, that would increase Jones’s exposure to the slower-growing moderate apparel market.

The company will probably earn $2.00 a share in 2007, and the stock trades at 15.0 times that figure. The $0.56 dividend yields 1.9%.

Jones Apparel Group is a buy.

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