Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.12

Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 18th,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of 1.12 per share by the retailer on Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th.

Target has raised its dividend payment by an average of 17.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 54 consecutive years. Target has a payout ratio of 42.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Target to earn $10.57 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.4%.

Target Stock Performance

NYSE TGT opened at $156.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $152.68 and a 200-day moving average of $150.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $72.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.24. Target has a 52-week low of $128.37 and a 52-week high of $181.86.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.19 billion. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. Target’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Target will post 9.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Richard H. Gomez sold 6,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $997,715.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 123,551 shares in the company, valued at $19,418,510.67. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,348 shares of company stock valued at $8,290,995. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on TGT. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Target in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $168.00 target price for the company. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Target to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.47.

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.