J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP): What Google Inc (GOOG) Can Tell You About Your Retail Investments

Next, I wanted to highlight the search interest for Penney’s higher end counterpart, Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN), another retailer I’m sure most of us are already familiar with.

While off it highs currently, the search interest for the keyword “Nordstrom” has followed a strong path upward over the last decade with all time highs seen during the last holiday season. I feel an investment in Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) would give investors better exposure to the recovering economy as the company tends to sell higher priced, more elastic goods compare to Penney. Nordstrom trades at a more attractive valuation with a PEG ratio of 1.4 and earnings growth estimated at 11.50%.

Wrap-Up

While J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP)’s management has struggled as of late, the search interest for the company has been in a steady decline for almost a decade. While I cannot give a direct correlation between search interest and revenues, it would be a logical to assume that as consumers increasingly use the internet for commerce, search interest will more accurately show true demand. Search interest has continue to hit lower lows as of late, leading me to my cautious stance.

The article What Google Can Tell You About Your Retail Investments originally appeared on Fool.com.

Nathaniel Matherson has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com. Nathaniel is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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