Target (NYSE:TGT) Upgraded to “Hold” at KGI Securities

KGI Securities upgraded shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Target from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. HSBC cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Hsbc Global Res cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $184.00 to $108.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.00.

Target Price Performance

Target stock opened at $113.78 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.72. The stock has a market cap of $52.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. Target has a 12-month low of $112.53 and a 12-month high of $181.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.83 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Target will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cynosure Group LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in shares of Target by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,818 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,063,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. increased its position in shares of Target by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 3,460 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 2,541 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

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.