Telsey Advisory Group Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Target (NYSE:TGT)

Telsey Advisory Group restated their outperform rating on shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $195.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on TGT. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Target in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Target in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Target from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Target has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.90.

Target Stock Down 21.2 %

TGT opened at $121.73 on Wednesday. Target has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $152.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.12. The company has a market capitalization of $56.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Target will post 9.55 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $7,140,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,210,768.81. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Target

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TGT. TAP Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,403,000. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Target by 8.7% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 50,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,793,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Target by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,243,928 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $193,879,000 after acquiring an additional 41,394 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Target by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 217,214 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,484,000 after acquiring an additional 36,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 166.3% during the third quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 16,179 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,000 after buying an additional 10,103 shares in the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Target

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.