TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on TJX. Guggenheim upped their price target on TJX Companies from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.76.

TJX Companies Trading Down 2.8 %

TJX opened at $121.92 on Friday. TJX Companies has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $128.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $121.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $16.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that TJX Companies will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. This is an increase from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 39.91%.

Insider Transactions at TJX Companies

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TJX Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,314,635 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $11,998,201,000 after acquiring an additional 578,948 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in TJX Companies by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,322,579 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $2,930,965,000 after purchasing an additional 464,995 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in TJX Companies by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,647,792 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $1,769,600,000 after purchasing an additional 626,739 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in TJX Companies by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,985,826 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $1,689,628,000 after buying an additional 1,845,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in TJX Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $1,670,565,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

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.