Target (NYSE:TGT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Target (NYSE:TGT) issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $24.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.52 billion. Target had a return on equity of 31.91% and a net margin of 3.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.05 EPS.

Target Price Performance

Target stock opened at $144.41 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $165.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Target has a 12-month low of $102.93 and a 12-month high of $181.86.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.38%.

Insider Transactions at Target

In other news, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total value of $786,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,576,658.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total value of $7,538,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 346,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,115,870.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christina Hennington sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.88, for a total transaction of $786,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,576,658.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,600 shares of company stock worth $8,819,598. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Target from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $191.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. HSBC upgraded shares of Target from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and set a $153.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.41.

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.