Allstate Corp Has $346,000 Position in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Allstate Corp lowered its stake in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,693 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after selling 155 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $346,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,135,688 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $8,455,660,000 after buying an additional 392,783 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in TJX Companies by 13.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,008,484 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $4,622,514,000 after buying an additional 6,036,764 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in TJX Companies by 1.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,752,978 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $2,200,045,000 after buying an additional 371,163 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in TJX Companies by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,734,141 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $1,220,690,000 after buying an additional 313,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in TJX Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $1,193,438,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

TJX Companies Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of TJX stock traded up $1.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $101.94. 1,749,020 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,203,387. The business has a 50 day moving average of $97.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.65 and a 52 week high of $104.98. The company has a market capitalization of $115.49 billion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.87.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $12.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.48 billion. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 64.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.05 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. This is an increase from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.22%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on TJX shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI set a $113.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $114.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.05.

Insider Activity at TJX Companies

In related news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 515,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,053,982.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of TJX Companies 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 515,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of TJX Companies 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,968,480.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.