Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Target Corporation $TGT

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,197 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 752 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Target were worth $217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Target in the second quarter worth $239,000. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 49.5% in the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 584,572 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $57,668,000 after acquiring an additional 193,474 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 3.5% in the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 122,358 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,071,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 6.3% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 366,820 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $36,187,000 after acquiring an additional 21,691 shares during the period. Finally, Welch Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 14.4% in the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 61,631 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,080,000 after acquiring an additional 7,744 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on TGT shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Target from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Target from $104.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective (down previously from $105.00) on shares of Target in a report on Friday, August 15th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Target from $102.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Monday, July 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Target currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.00.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $90.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.51. Target Corporation has a 52-week low of $85.36 and a 52-week high of $158.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.90 billion, a PE ratio of 10.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.18.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The retailer reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.01. Target had a return on equity of 23.43% and a net margin of 3.72%.The business had revenue of $24.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.57 earnings per share. Target’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-9.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Target Corporation will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a $1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.15%.

Target 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.