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

StockNews.com lowered shares of TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup upgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.76.

TJX Companies Stock Down 1.7 %

TJX opened at $128.35 on Tuesday. TJX Companies has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $131.30. The firm has a market cap of $143.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.19.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.24 billion. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 61.82% and a net margin of 8.63%. Equities research analysts anticipate that TJX Companies will post 4.18 EPS 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 paid a $0.425 dividend. This is a positive change from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is presently 39.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TJX Companies news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 484,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,569,772.67. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of TJX Companies 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. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TJX Companies

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 4,987 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC lifted its holdings in TJX Companies by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 4,338 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in TJX Companies by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group increased its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 7,696 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,778 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. 91.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.