TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) Upgraded by Citigroup to “Buy” Rating

Citigroup upgraded shares of TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has $140.00 price target on the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock, up from their previous price target of $128.00.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on TJX. Guggenheim upped their price objective on TJX Companies from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded TJX Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.76.

TJX Companies Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of TJX Companies stock opened at $125.32 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $121.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.35. The company has a market capitalization of $140.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. TJX Companies has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $128.00.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.07. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. The business had revenue of $16.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.24 billion. On average, analysts forecast that TJX Companies will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This is a boost from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TJX Companies

In other TJX Companies news, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total transaction of $988,240.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total value of $2,882,346.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 484,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,569,772.67. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Common Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in TJX Companies by 6.4% in the first quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 196,481 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $23,931,000 after buying an additional 11,867 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH lifted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 280,277 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $34,138,000 after acquiring an additional 18,699 shares during the period. Prostatis Group LLC boosted its stake in TJX Companies by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in TJX Companies in the fourth quarter worth $4,713,000. Finally, Chancellor Financial Group WB LP acquired a new stake in TJX Companies in the fourth quarter worth $249,000. 91.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TJX Companies Company Profile

The TJX Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an off-price apparel and home fashions retailer in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. It operates through four segments: Marmaxx, HomeGoods, TJX Canada, and TJX International. The company sells family apparel, including footwear and accessories; home fashions, such as home basics, furniture, rugs, lighting products, giftware, soft home products, decorative accessories, tabletop, and cookware, as well as expanded pet, and gourmet food departments; jewelry and accessories; and other merchandise.