Poehling Capital Management INC. Invests $1.42 Million in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

Poehling Capital Management INC. bought a new position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,489 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,418,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in Target by 137.8% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 768 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Target by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 88,220 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,926,000 after acquiring an additional 11,025 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in Target by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 8,676 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 3,547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CSS LLC IL bought a new position in Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $395,000. 79.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Target Price Performance

TGT stock opened at $93.01 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $42.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.86, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Target Co. has a 12-month low of $87.35 and a 12-month high of $167.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.93.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $24.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. Target’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. Target’s payout ratio is 50.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Target from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Target from $140.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $142.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-three have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.29.

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.