TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

TJX has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $136.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of TJX Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, TJX Companies presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $135.76.

TJX Companies Price Performance

NYSE TJX traded down $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $126.47. 2,241,828 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,362,956. TJX Companies has a 1-year low of $93.39 and a 1-year high of $131.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $121.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $141.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.35 billion for 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that TJX Companies will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This is an increase from TJX Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. TJX Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Insider Activity at TJX Companies

In other TJX Companies news, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total transaction of $988,240.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of TJX Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.03, for a total transaction of $2,882,346.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 484,189 shares in the company, valued at $59,569,772.67. This trade 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 Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of TJX Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,670,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of TJX Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $570,342,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 14,486.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,912,116 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock worth $354,696,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892,151 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 689.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,595,085 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer's stock valued at $313,512,000 after buying an additional 2,266,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 15.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 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.