United Community Bank Increases Position in Target Co. (NYSE:TGT)

United Community Bank raised its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT) by 406.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,576 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,305 shares during the quarter. Target accounts for about 0.9% of United Community Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. United Community Bank’s holdings in Target were worth $2,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 1.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,368,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,977 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,430,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590 shares during the period. Northeast Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,566,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 8.6% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 119,458 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,619,000 after purchasing an additional 9,510 shares during the period. Finally, LMG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,438,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.73% of the company’s stock.

Target Price Performance

NYSE:TGT opened at $115.11 on Friday. Target Co. has a one year low of $112.10 and a one year high of $181.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $52.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $132.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.49.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The retailer reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.17. Target had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The business had revenue of $30.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.83 billion. Research analysts expect that Target Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Target Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. Target’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on TGT shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Target from $160.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Target from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Target from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $184.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Target from $133.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Target has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.00.

Target 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.