Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirty-one research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $143.40.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on TGT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Target from $146.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (down previously from $131.00) on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Target

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nicholas Company Inc. boosted its position in Target by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 55,810 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,544,000 after buying an additional 9,485 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 144.9% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 234,492 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $31,699,000 after acquiring an additional 138,751 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Target during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,459,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Target by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,977 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,430,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northeast Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at $1,566,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Down 2.7 %

NYSE:TGT opened at $103.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. Target has a fifty-two week low of $101.76 and a fifty-two week 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $122.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.54.

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

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.