BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Increases Stake in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,220 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 11,025 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Target were worth $11,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Target by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,930,569 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,964,565,000 after buying an additional 1,306,552 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,338,729 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,532,769,000 after buying an additional 1,358,348 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Target by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,885,015 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,332,317,000 after buying an additional 470,990 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Target during the fourth quarter valued at $757,892,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Target by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,376,640 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $726,814,000 after buying an additional 754,883 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Trading Up 2.2%

Target stock opened at $95.05 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $87.35 and a 52 week high of $167.40. The company has a market capitalization of $43.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $97.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.55.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The retailer reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.35). Target had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 4.06%. The firm had revenue of $24.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS 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 dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TGT. Roth Capital set a $122.00 price objective on Target in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Gordon Haskett downgraded Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Target from $92.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Target in a research report on Thursday. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.97.

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.