Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Announces $1.12 Quarterly Dividend

Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 18th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given 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 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th.

Target has raised its dividend payment by an average of 17.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 54 consecutive years. Target has a dividend payout ratio of 42.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Target to earn $10.56 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGT opened at $155.31 on Thursday. Target has a fifty-two week low of $102.93 and a fifty-two week high of $181.86. The company’s 50-day moving average is $148.34 and its 200 day moving average is $155.03. 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 company has a market capitalization of $71.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The retailer reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.39. Target had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company had revenue of $25.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. Target’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Target will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGT has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Target from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Target from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “inline” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Target from $147.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Target from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Target presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Target

In other news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,173.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Target news, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total value of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,114,173.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of Target stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $7,140,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,843 shares in the company, valued at $48,210,768.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.