Townsend & Associates Inc Acquires 60,859 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Townsend & Associates Inc boosted its holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 78.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 138,122 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,859 shares during the period. TJX Companies comprises approximately 1.6% of Townsend & Associates Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $13,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in TJX Companies by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,016 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY grew its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 3.0% in the third quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 69,575 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $6,184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 15.1% in the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 69,682 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $6,193,000 after buying an additional 9,141 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in TJX Companies by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 59,096 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $5,252,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in TJX Companies by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,911 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. 91.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

TJX Companies Stock Up 0.5 %

TJX traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $99.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,857,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,061,747. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.65 and a 1 year high of $102.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $96.86 and its 200-day moving average is $94.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.52, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.10. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 64.18% and a net margin of 8.25%. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

TJX Companies declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 28th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel and home fashions retailer to purchase up to 2.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This is a positive change from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is currently 34.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total transaction of $266,248.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,968,480.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total value of $266,248.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,968,480.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total transaction of $1,979,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on TJX. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Redburn Atlantic cut TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group raised TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $104.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TJX Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.29.

TJX Companies Profile

The TJX Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an off-price apparel and home fashions retailer in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. It operates through four segments: Marmaxx, HomeGoods, TJX Canada, and TJX International. The company sells family apparel, including footwear and accessories; home fashions, such as home basics, furniture, rugs, lighting products, giftware, soft home products, decorative accessories, tabletop, and cookware, as well as expanded pet, and gourmet food departments; jewelry and accessories; and other merchandise.