Target (NYSE:TGT) Releases Q4 Earnings Guidance

Target (NYSE:TGT) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $1.85-2.45 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.65. Target also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 8.300-8.900 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Target from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Daiwa America raised Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.53.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $156.00 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $71.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.24. Target has a 12 month low of $128.37 and a 12 month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Target will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s payout ratio is 46.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,210,768.81. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $997,715.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 in the last 90 days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Target Company Profile

Target Corporation operates as a general merchandise retailer in the United States. The company offers apparel for women, men, boys, girls, toddlers, and infants and newborns, as well as jewelry, accessories, and shoes; and beauty and personal care, baby gear, cleaning, paper products, and pet supplies.