Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Boosts Stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 179,146 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,094 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $16,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 73,466 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $6,530,000 after purchasing an additional 19,236 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 603,482 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $56,613,000 after purchasing an additional 21,767 shares during the last quarter. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of TJX Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,197,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,108 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 5,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 109.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 148,954 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $13,239,000 after purchasing an additional 77,711 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on TJX shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $100.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday. Redburn Atlantic downgraded TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, TJX Companies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.65.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

TJX traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $96.62. 1,921,844 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,035,215. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.65 and a 1-year high of $102.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.82.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.10. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 64.18% and a net margin of 8.25%. The firm had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This is a boost from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.46%.

TJX Companies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 28th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the apparel and home fashions retailer to reacquire up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total transaction of $1,979,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total value of $1,979,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total transaction of $266,248.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,968,480.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.