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

Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirty-three analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $103.90.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on TGT shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Target from $117.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Target from $93.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $103.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Tuesday, February 10th.

Institutional Trading of Target

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Target by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,212,397 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,690,262,000 after acquiring an additional 286,499 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Target by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,772,533 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,692,265,000 after purchasing an additional 124,468 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Target by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,065,926 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,668,194,000 after purchasing an additional 561,898 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Target by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,194,448 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $605,507,000 after purchasing an additional 142,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Target during the 4th quarter worth about $587,903,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $115.61 on Tuesday. Target has a fifty-two week low of $83.44 and a fifty-two week high of $131.70. The company has a market cap of $52.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.99.

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

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a $1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is presently 55.34%.

About Target

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.