Target (NYSE:TGT) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Target (NYSE:TGT) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on TGT. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Target from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Target from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Truist Financial raised their price target on Target from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Argus set a $150.00 price target on Target in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $170.00 price target on Target in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.52.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $164.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $74.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $146.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.57. Target has a 52 week low of $83.44 and a 52 week high of $170.75.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 19th. The retailer reported $4.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $1.76. Target had a net margin of 4.08% and a return on equity of 23.23%. The company had revenue of $26.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.900-10.900 EPS. Research analysts expect that Target will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.14. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total transaction of $151,410.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,005,613.66. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melissa K. Kremer sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.96, for a total value of $2,634,380.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 56,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,684,490.76. This represents a 21.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Target

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Target by 13,417.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 91,340,014 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,929,919,000 after purchasing an additional 90,664,304 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Target during the 2nd quarter worth $5,054,604,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,772,533 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,692,265,000 after buying an additional 124,468 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Target by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,065,926 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,668,194,000 after buying an additional 561,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Target in the 2nd quarter valued at $831,466,000. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Target Company Profile

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.