How to buy Big Lots stock | 52.74

Big Lots, Inc is a discount stores business based in the US. Big Lots shares (BIG) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Big Lots employs 10,500 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$5.9 billion.

How to buy shares in Big Lots

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Big Lots. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: BIG. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Big Lots reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$52.74, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Big Lots, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Big Lots. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

How has coronavirus impacted Big Lots's share price?

Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Big Lots's share price has had significant positive movement.

Its last market close was USD$52.74, which is 51.82% up on its pre-crash value of USD$25.41 and 420.89% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as USD$10.125.

If you had bought USD$1,000 worth of Big Lots shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth USD$412.74 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth USD$1,874.91.

Big Lots share price

Use our graph to track the performance of BIG stocks over time.

Big Lots shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-10-20.

Latest market close	USD$52.74
52-week range	USD$10.125 - USD$57.24
50-day moving average	USD$47.5617
200-day moving average	USD$38.3065
Wall St. target price	USD$56.89
PE ratio	2.9365
Dividend yield	USD$1.2 (2.28%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$18.335

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Is it a good time to buy Big Lots stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Big Lots, Inc by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Big Lots price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $52.74 from 2020-10-19

1 week (2020-10-22)	3.21%
1 month (2020-09-29)	12.05%
3 months (2020-07-29)	30.16%
6 months (2020-04-29)	109.37%

1 year (2019-10-29)	133.57%
2 years (2018-10-29)	27.48%
3 years (2017-10-27)	1.78%
5 years (2015-10-29)	10.33%

Is Big Lots under- or over-valued?

Valuing Big Lots stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Big Lots's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Big Lots's P/E ratio

Big Lots's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 3x. In other words, Big Lots shares trade at around 3x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Big Lots's PEG ratio

Big Lots's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 0.88. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Big Lots's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Big Lots's EBITDA

Big Lots's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$445 million.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Big Lots's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Big Lots financials

Revenue TTM	USD$5.9 billion
Operating margin TTM	5.13%
Gross profit TTM	USD$2.1 billion
Return on assets TTM	5.11%
Return on equity TTM	73.2%
Profit margin	12.33%
Book value	$33.838
Market capitalisation	USD$2.1 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Big Lots shares

There are currently 7.8 million Big Lots shares held short by investors – that's known as Big Lots's "short interest". This figure is 2.5% down from 8.0 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Big Lots shares can be evaluated.

Big Lots's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Big Lots's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Big Lots shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Big Lots shares traded daily (recently around 1.8 million). Big Lots's SIR currently stands at 4.34. In other words for every 100,000 Big Lots shares traded daily on the market, roughly 4340 shares are currently held short.

However Big Lots's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Big Lots shares, or, against the total number of tradable Big Lots shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Big Lots's short interest could be expressed as 0.2% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Big Lots shares in existence, roughly 200 shares are currently held short) or 0.2739% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Big Lots shares, roughly 274 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Big Lots.

Find out more about how you can short Big Lots stock.

Big Lots share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 17.78% of net profits

Recently Big Lots has paid out, on average, around 17.78% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 2.28% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Big Lots shareholders could enjoy a 2.28% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Big Lots's case, that would currently equate to about $1.2 per share.

While Big Lots's payout ratio might seem low, this can signify that Big Lots is investing more in its future growth.

Big Lots's most recent dividend payout was on 25 September 2020. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 10 September 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Big Lots's shares ever split?

Big Lots's shares were split on a 5:4 basis on 25 June 1997. So if you had owned 4 shares the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 5 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Big Lots shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 20% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Big Lots shares which in turn could have impacted Big Lots's share price.

Big Lots share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Big Lots's shares have ranged in value from as little as $10.125 up to $57.24. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Big Lots's is 2.5367. This would suggest that Big Lots's shares are significantly more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent a higher risk.

Big Lots overview

Big Lots, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer in the United States. The company offers products under various merchandising categories, such as furniture category that includes upholstery, mattress, case goods, and ready-to-assemble departments; seasonal category, which comprises Christmas trim, lawn and garden, summer, and other holiday departments; soft home category that consists of fashion and utility bedding, bath, window, decorative textile, home organization, area rugs, home décor, and frames departments; and food category that includes beverage and grocery, candy and snacks, and specialty foods departments. It also provides merchandise under the consumables category, which comprises health, beauty and cosmetics, plastics, paper, chemical, and pet departments; hard home category, including small appliances, table top, food preparation, stationery, greeting cards, and home maintenance departments; and electronics, toys, and accessories category consisting of electronics, toys, jewelry, and hosiery departments. As of February 1, 2020, it operated 1,404 stores in 47 states and an e-commerce platform. Big Lots, Inc. was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Big Lots is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 2.182% of Big Lots shares are held by insiders and 108.256% by institutions.

• How many people work for Big Lots?

  Latest data suggests 10,500 work at Big Lots.

• When does the fiscal year end for Big Lots?

  Big Lots's fiscal year ends in January.

• Where is Big Lots based?

  Big Lots's address is: 4900 East Dublin Granville Road, Columbus, OH, United States, 43081

• What is Big Lots's ISIN number?

  Big Lots's international securities identification number is: US0893021032

• What is Big Lots's CUSIP number?

  Big Lots's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 089302103