Target (NYSE:TGT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on TGT. Roth Capital set a $122.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Target from $133.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on shares of Target from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.24.

Target Stock Up 1.5 %

TGT stock opened at $95.70 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $119.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.85. The stock has a market cap of $43.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.28. Target has a twelve month low of $90.62 and a twelve month high of $173.05. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business had revenue of $30.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.83 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Target will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors 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 dividend yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Target by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,530,576,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732,801 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Target by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,964,565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,552 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Target by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,532,769,000 after acquiring an additional 1,358,348 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Target by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,885,015 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,332,317,000 after purchasing an additional 470,990 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth about $757,892,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently 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.