Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the thirty-two brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seventeen have assigned a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $147.00.

TGT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Target from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on Target from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Target from $133.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Target

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Target by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,368,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in Target by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,977 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,430,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares during the period. Northeast Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Target during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,566,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in Target by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 119,458 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,619,000 after buying an additional 9,510 shares during the period. Finally, LMG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Target during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,438,000. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Performance

TGT opened at $115.11 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.49. The company has a market capitalization of $52.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. Target has a 1 year low of $112.10 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion during 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%. Research analysts expect that Target will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. Target’s payout ratio is 50.56%.

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.