Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases 10,400 Shares of Target Corporation $TGT

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,600 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,400 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Target were worth $5,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in Target during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Target in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Target in the third quarter worth $31,000. Key Financial Inc boosted its position in Target by 77.4% during the third quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 346 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Target by 1,113.8% during the second quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 352 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on TGT shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on Target from $93.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Target from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Target from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Target from $117.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Argus dropped their price target on shares of Target from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Target presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.45.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $115.71 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $105.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.36. 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 company has a market capitalization of $52.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.14. Target Corporation has a 1-year low of $83.44 and a 1-year high of $130.15.

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 company had revenue of $25.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.44 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 22.74%. Target’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $1.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.