Target (NYSE:TGT) Issues Q4 Earnings Guidance

Target (NYSE:TGT) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided EPS guidance of $1.85-2.45 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $2.65. Target also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 8.300-8.900 EPS.

Target Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Target stock opened at $156.00 on Wednesday. Target has a fifty-two week low of $128.37 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $152.84 and a 200 day moving average of $150.32.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.45). The business had revenue of $25.23 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Target will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Target’s payout ratio is currently 46.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGT has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Target from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on Target from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup lowered shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Target from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.53.

Insider Transactions at Target

In other Target news, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 123,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,114,173.88. The trade was a 12.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock worth $8,290,995. Corporate insiders own 0.15% 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.