TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) Raised to “Buy” at Citigroup

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) was upgraded by stock analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors 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 previous price target of $128.00. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 14.83% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on TJX. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a research note 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 research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.76.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

Shares of TJX opened at $121.92 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $121.69 and a 200 day moving average of $120.37. 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 has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $128.33. The company has a market capitalization of $137.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.96.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.24 billion. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 61.82% and a net margin of 8.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that TJX Companies will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

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 value of $988,240.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of TJX Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of TJX Companies

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in shares of TJX Companies by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,228,840 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $148,456,000 after purchasing an additional 13,036 shares during the period. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in TJX Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $433,000. BLB&B Advisors LLC boosted its position in TJX Companies by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 81,079 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $9,795,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,186 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $4,130,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Finally, Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH bought a new position in shares of TJX Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $604,000. 91.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.