The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) Increases Dividend to $0.43 Per Share

The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of 0.425 per share by the apparel and home fashions retailer on Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This is a 13.3% increase from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38.

TJX Companies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 11.9% annually over the last three years. TJX Companies has a dividend payout ratio of 30.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect TJX Companies to earn $4.58 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.8%.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

Shares of TJX Companies stock opened at $122.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.50. TJX Companies has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $128.00.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.07. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. The company had revenue of $16.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that TJX Companies will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at TJX Companies

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total value of $2,882,346.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 484,189 shares in the company, valued at $59,569,772.67. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total transaction of $988,240.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in TJX Companies stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,172 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 91.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on TJX Companies from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $136.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.06.

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.