Target (NYSE:TGT) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Target (NYSE:TGT) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The retailer reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.02), RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $24.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.52 billion. Target had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 33.41%. Target’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $155.73 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $166.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.43. Target has a 1 year low of $102.93 and a 1 year high of $181.86. The company has a market capitalization of $72.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Target Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Target’s payout ratio is currently 49.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total transaction of $7,538,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,115,870.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total transaction of $7,538,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total transaction of $786,048.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares in the company, valued at $6,576,658.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,600 shares of company stock valued at $8,819,598. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TGT has been the subject of several research reports. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $140.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Target from $160.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Target from $178.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Target from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.96.

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.