Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,900,000 shares, an increase of 23.6% from the June 30th total of 8,820,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,960,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. RFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in Target during the 4th quarter valued at about $605,000. Little House Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Target in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,041,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Target by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 642,340 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $112,686,000 after purchasing an additional 122,706 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Target by 11.4% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,558 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,618,000 after buying an additional 6,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Target in the first quarter worth approximately $13,958,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Target in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Target from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Target from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.57.

Target Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE TGT traded up $2.71 during trading on Friday, hitting $149.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,426,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,565,830. The company’s fifty day moving average is $147.98 and its 200-day moving average is $154.40. Target has a one year low of $102.93 and a one year high of $181.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $68.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The retailer reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.02). Target had a return on equity of 31.91% and a net margin of 3.87%. The firm had revenue of $24.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.05 earnings per share. Target’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Target will post 9.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This is an increase from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Target’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.38%.

Target Company Profile

Target Corporation operates as a general merchandise retailer in the United States. The company offers apparel for women, men, boys, girls, toddlers, and infants and newborns, as well as jewelry, accessories, and shoes; and beauty and personal care, baby gear, cleaning, paper products, and pet supplies.