Southeast Asset Advisors LLC Makes New $394,000 Investment in Target Corporation $TGT

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,395 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Summitry LLC increased its holdings in Target by 9.7% in the third quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 61,106 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,481,000 after buying an additional 5,408 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Target by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,925,898 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,195,953,000 after purchasing an additional 6,481,560 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Target by 8.0% during the third quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,823 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Target by 31.5% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,692 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in Target by 3.2% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 158,425 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,211,000 after purchasing an additional 4,955 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TGT. Bank of America cut their price target on Target from $93.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Target from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Target from $89.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus cut their price objective on Target from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Target in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.90.

Target Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE TGT opened at $115.61 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $52.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.14. Target Corporation has a 1 year low of $83.44 and a 1 year high of $131.70.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $25.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.44 billion. Target had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 3.58%.The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.85 earnings per share. Target has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.000-8.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.14 per share. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. Target’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.34%.

Target Company Profile

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.