Target Co. (TGT) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 20th

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. 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 raised its dividend annually for the last 54 consecutive years. Target has a payout ratio of 42.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Stock Performance

Shares of TGT opened at $156.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.90. Target has a twelve month low of $102.93 and a twelve month high of $181.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $148.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.05. The firm has a market cap of $72.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24.

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

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 Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Target news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Matthew A. Liegel sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.13, for a total transaction of $153,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,173.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on TGT shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Target from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Target from $209.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Target in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Target has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.68.

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.