Target (NYSE:TGT) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

TGT has been the subject of several other reports. HSBC cut Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $138.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Daiwa America cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Hsbc Global Res cut Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Target presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.87.

Target Trading Up 0.2 %

TGT opened at $104.71 on Wednesday. Target has a 12 month low of $103.46 and a 12 month high of $181.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $129.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.88.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.83 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Target will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s payout ratio is 50.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cynosure Group LLC increased its position in Target by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in Target by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 2,541 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Target by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 7,490 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,100 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

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.