Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) was downgraded by Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on BIG. Analysts at JPMorgan Chase reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Big Lots in a research note to investors on Wednesday. They now have a $28.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Canaccord Genuity downgraded shares of Big Lots from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note to investors on Wednesday. They now have a $39.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $38.00. Finally, analysts at Piper Jaffray reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Big Lots in a research note to investors on Monday. They now have a $31.00 price target on the stock.

Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, nine have given a hold rating, and two have given a sell rating to the company’s stock. Big Lots has a consensus rating of “hold” and an average price target of $35.46.

Shares of Big Lots opened at 35.97 on Thursday. Big Lots has a 52 week low of $26.69 and a 52 week high of $47.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $32.71. The company has a market cap of $2.082 billion and a P/E ratio of 13.07.

Big Lots last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. Big Lots’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Big Lots has set its Q1 guidance at $0.63-0.70 EPS and its FY14 guidance at $3.05-3.25 EPS. Analysts expect that Big Lots will post $2.90 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Big Lots, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is a North America’s closeout retailer. At January 28, 2012, the Company operated a total of 1,533 stores in two countries: the United States and Canada.

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