Empire Life Investments Inc. Trims Stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Empire Life Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 267,516 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 56,675 shares during the quarter. TJX Companies comprises about 2.0% of Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $32,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TJX. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in TJX Companies by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 323,654 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $38,042,000 after acquiring an additional 16,883 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in TJX Companies by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,608 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 923 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in TJX Companies by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,953 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Buffington Mohr McNeal boosted its holdings in TJX Companies by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 7,947 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $934,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in TJX Companies by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 20,766 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $2,441,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. 91.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on TJX Companies from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on TJX Companies from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, TJX Companies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.53.

TJX Companies Stock Down 1.2 %

TJX Companies stock opened at $124.33 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $123.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.03. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $128.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.25, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.91.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 61.82% and a net margin of 8.63%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. TJX Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.29%.

TJX Companies Company Profile

The TJX Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an off-price apparel and home fashions retailer in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. It operates through four segments: Marmaxx, HomeGoods, TJX Canada, and TJX International. The company sells family apparel, including footwear and accessories; home fashions, such as home basics, furniture, rugs, lighting products, giftware, soft home products, decorative accessories, tabletop, and cookware, as well as expanded pet, and gourmet food departments; jewelry and accessories; and other merchandise.