Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Buys 36,927 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,221,951 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,927 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of TJX Companies worth $114,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TJX. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of TJX Companies by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 1,196 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC grew its position in shares of TJX Companies by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 6,920 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its position in shares of TJX Companies by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 164,114 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $15,396,000 after buying an additional 4,647 shares during the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in shares of TJX Companies by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 179,146 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $16,806,000 after buying an additional 5,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New Hampshire grew its position in shares of TJX Companies by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 53,608 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $5,029,000 after buying an additional 5,248 shares during the last quarter. 91.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Redburn Atlantic cut TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.65.

TJX Companies Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:TJX opened at $96.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.86. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.65 and a 12-month 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.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.20 billion. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 64.18% and a net margin of 8.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This is a positive change from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.46%.

TJX Companies announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TJX Companies news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of TJX Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total value of $1,979,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 515,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total transaction of $266,248.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,968,480.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 515,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

About TJX Companies

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.