Target (NYSE:TGT) Cut to “Hold” at Gordon Haskett

Gordon Haskett cut shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Target from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Roth Mkm cut their price target on shares of Target from $157.00 to $131.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC downgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Target from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Target from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.70.

Target Stock Down 0.6 %

TGT opened at $127.86 on Thursday. Target has a 12 month low of $120.21 and a 12 month high of $181.86. The business has a 50-day moving average of $135.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.15.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $25.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.87 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Target will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Target

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Target by 1.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,368,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in Target by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,977 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,430,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Target in the fourth quarter worth $1,566,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Target by 8.6% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 119,458 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,619,000 after buying an additional 9,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prana Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 47.5% during the third quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 217,081 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $33,834,000 after acquiring an additional 69,885 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.