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

Target (NYSE:TGT) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The retailer reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.02), RTT News reports. Target had a return on equity of 31.91% and a net margin of 3.87%. The firm had revenue of $24.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $144.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $165.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.35. Target has a 12 month low of $102.93 and a 12 month high of $181.86.

Target Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Target from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Target from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Target from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Target from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.41.

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.