Put me in Coach?

Posted Feb 8th 2007 12:15PM by Beth Gaston Moon
Filed under: Good news, Short Stories, Target Corp. (TGT), Coach Inc (COH)

My sister-in-law is, as they say in some circles, a piece of work. Her heart is truly as big as earth's yellow sun, but so is her shopping compulsion. Raised on a farm and now living in the suburbs, she nevertheless prides herself on her "expensive taste," which Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT) shopping folks like me can only envy from the sidelines.

Her latest obsession is the Coach Inc. (NYSE:COH) brand, maker of luxury leather goods and accessories. Not content with merely three of Coach's purses (all carrying triple-digit price tags), she has the coordinating wallets for each, and her sight's set on her next treat. I'm not that jealous; I have a real Coach purse too (assuming the guy to whom I handed $25 on the Las Vegas strip was telling the truth ... I totally believe him).

Coach handbags (and other goods) are certainly a precious commodity, and for good reason. They are stylish, durable, and carry quite the cachet. The stock isn't too shabby either; its current uptrend dates back nearly five years. The shares just keep on climbing, sprinting through new-high territory with the greatest of ease, using their 10-week moving average as support.

The COH brand remains as in vogue as ever. Last month, officials said that second-quarter sales climbed 29%. Fun fact: for the price of its basic handbag, you can pick up close to six shares of COH right now. Had you scooped up some COH shares in July 2002, you'd be sitting with a profit of close to 1,000% right now. Not bad, even for those among us with "expensive taste."

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst with Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Tags: coh, tgt

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-08-2007 @ 12:35PM

Gary E. Sattler said...

Remind your SIL that those accesories are investments in themselves. Twenty years from now those triple digit purchases could provide quad digit returns!!!