Citigroup Upgrades TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) to "Buy"

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Citigroup from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $140.00 price target on the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock, up from their prior price target of $128.00. Citigroup's target price would suggest a potential upside of 14.83% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded TJX Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $135.76.

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TJX Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:TJX traded down $3.51 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $121.92. The company had a trading volume of 12,959,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,264,766. The firm has a market cap of $136.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86. TJX Companies has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $128.33. The business's 50 day moving average price is $121.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.38. 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 (NYSE:TJX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.24 billion. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. Research analysts forecast that TJX Companies will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at TJX Companies

In other news, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total value of $988,240.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of TJX Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total transaction of $2,882,346.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of TJX Companies

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of TJX Companies by 0.6% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in TJX Companies by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 47,556,435 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $5,589,783,000 after purchasing an additional 469,287 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,322,579 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $2,930,965,000 after buying an additional 464,995 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,647,792 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $1,769,600,000 after buying an additional 626,739 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,985,826 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $1,689,628,000 after buying an additional 1,845,225 shares during the last quarter. 91.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.