Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Receives $128.13 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirty-five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $127.29.

TGT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KGI Securities set a $132.00 price target on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $97.00 price target (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on Target from $140.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Baird R W downgraded shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Target from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $97.00 to $82.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGT. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Target during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Target during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Target by 175.3% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 256 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Target by 110.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 257 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Stock Up 0.3%

TGT opened at $98.31 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $97.93 and a 200 day moving average of $121.12. The company has a market cap of $44.67 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27. Target has a 12 month low of $87.35 and a 12 month high of $167.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.83 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Target will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s payout ratio is presently 50.56%.

About Target

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.