Guggenheim Has Lowered Expectations for Target (NYSE:TGT) Stock Price

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at Guggenheim from $155.00 to $115.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Guggenheim’s price objective points to a potential upside of 19.87% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on TGT. Cfra Research lowered shares of Target from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Baird R W lowered Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.68.

Target Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE TGT opened at $95.94 on Tuesday. Target has a 1-year low of $87.35 and a 1-year high of $167.40. The company has a market capitalization of $43.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $96.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.35). Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The company had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. Target’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Target will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Target by 101.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Target by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Target by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,386 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Target by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,984 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Target by 318.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 364,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $49,257,000 after buying an additional 277,403 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

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.