Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirty-three research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twenty have given a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $103.90.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Target from $107.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Target from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $108.00 target price on Target in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Target from $87.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Target

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Okabena Investment Services Inc. raised its stake in Target by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 211,356 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,660,000 after purchasing an additional 10,601 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Target by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 55,186 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,394,000 after buying an additional 2,546 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Target by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 21,929 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,144,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC grew its position in Target by 747.0% in the fourth quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 2,541 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 2,241 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in Target by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 41,171 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,024,000 after acquiring an additional 4,723 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT opened at $115.61 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.99. The company has a market cap of $52.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.14. Target has a 1-year low of $83.44 and a 1-year high of $131.70.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $25.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.44 billion. Target had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 3.58%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-8.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Target will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a $1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.34%.

Target Company Profile

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.