Target Co. (TGT) To Go Ex-Dividend on May 14th

Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 12th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of 1.12 per share by the retailer on Sunday, June 1st. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th.

Target has increased its dividend by an average of 12.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 54 consecutive years. Target has a dividend payout ratio of 45.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Target to earn $9.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 48.1%.

Target Stock Down 2.7 %

TGT opened at $104.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $129.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.26. The firm has a market cap of $47.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. Target has a twelve month low of $104.01 and a twelve month high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.83 billion. Research analysts forecast that Target will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Target stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 101.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,080 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,059 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Target from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Daiwa America cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com lowered Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Target presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.87.

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.