Target (NYSE:TGT) Receives Outperform Rating from Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group reissued their outperform rating on shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $195.00 price target on the retailer’s stock.

TGT has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Daiwa America upgraded Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.90.

Target Stock Performance

TGT stock opened at $121.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.90. Target has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $181.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.12. The firm has a market cap of $56.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.45). The firm had revenue of $25.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Target will post 9.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Target news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Target in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Target during the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 156.5% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Company Profile

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.