Stifel Nicolaus Lowers Target (NYSE:TGT) Price Target to $120.00

Target (NYSE:TGT) had its target price trimmed by Stifel Nicolaus from $130.00 to $120.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on TGT. Gordon Haskett downgraded Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Daiwa America downgraded Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group cut their price target on Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on Target from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.55.

Target Stock Down 0.7 %

TGT stock opened at $104.19 on Thursday. Target has a fifty-two week low of $103.46 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $126.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.47. 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 company has a market capitalization of $47.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.83 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Target will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.30%. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Target

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TGT. State Street Corp increased its stake in Target by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,484,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,530,576,000 after buying an additional 2,732,801 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Target by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,964,565,000 after buying an additional 1,306,552 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Target by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,532,769,000 after buying an additional 1,358,348 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Target by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,885,015 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,332,317,000 after buying an additional 470,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Target in the 4th quarter worth $757,892,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.