Scotia Capital Inc. Takes $233,000 Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Scotia Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,723 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TGT. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Target during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Target by 175.3% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 256 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Target by 110.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 257 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $92.14 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.99. Target Co. has a twelve month low of $87.35 and a twelve month high of $169.09. The company has a market capitalization of $41.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.83 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.86%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. KGI Securities set a $132.00 price objective on shares of Target in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Target from $133.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Target from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Target currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.57.

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.