Caleres Inc (CAL) stock analysis

P/E above its 5-year median

Caleres's P/E of 9.0 is above its own 5-year median of 6.6.

P/E below the industry

Caleres's P/E of 9.0 is below the Consumer discretionary median of 19.6.

EV/EBITDA below its 5-year median

Caleres's EV/EBITDA of 4.8 is below its 5-year median of 4.9.

P/B below the industry

Caleres's price-to-book of 0.69 is below the Consumer discretionary median of 2.44.

Trading below fair value

The share price of $13.45 is below our fair value estimate of $23.51.

Margin of safety over 20%

The price is 42.8% below fair value, more than the 20% cushion we look for.

Revenue growing under 10% a year

Revenue grew -2.4% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.

EPS growth over 3 years

Needs positive EPS three years ago and today.

Earnings acceleration

Needs positive net income now, a year ago and five years ago.

Growing faster than the industry

Revenue grew 7.3% over the last twelve months; the Consumer discretionary median is 7.2%.

Guidance lowered

Caleres lowered its full-year 2026 interest expense outlook on Sep 9, 2026.

Gross margin improving

Gross margin was 46.2% over the last twelve months, against 44.0% a year earlier.

Return on equity under 15%

Return on equity was 8.2% over the last twelve months and averaged 30.9% over five years; we look for 15% on both.

Return on capital over 10%

Return on invested capital was 11.7%, above the 10% that usually covers the cost of capital.

Return on equity above the industry

Caleres's return on equity of 8.2% is above the Consumer discretionary median of 5.6%.

Earnings over 5 years

Needs positive net income five years ago and in the latest year.

Net margin below its 5-year average

Net margin was 1.8% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 4.2%.

Net margin below the industry

Caleres's net margin of 1.8% is below the Consumer discretionary median of 5.6%.

No debt

Caleres has no borrowings on its latest balance sheet.

Debt not rising

With no debt today, leverage cannot have risen.

Debt covered by cash flow

There is no debt to cover.

Interest well covered

No meaningful interest expense to cover.

Short-term assets cover short-term debts

Current assets are 1.11 times current liabilities.

Bankruptcy risk in the grey zone

The Altman Z-score is 2.04; above 3 is the safe zone and below 1.8 the distress zone.

Pays a dividend

Caleres paid dividends worth 2.1% of the share price over the last twelve months.

Yield below Treasuries

The 2.1% yield is below the 4.4% on a 1-year Treasury.

Yield below the top quarter

The top quarter of US dividend payers yield 3.8% or more; Caleres yields 2.1%.

Dividend not cut

The dividend per share has not fallen by more than 10% in any of the last 10 fiscal years.

Covered by earnings

Dividends take 18.0% of net income.

Covered by free cash flow

Dividends take 14.1% of free cash flow.