Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is scheduled to report its fiscal second-quarter financial results before the markets open on Wednesday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters call for $1.12 in earnings per share (EPS) on $16.18 billion in revenue. The retailer posted EPS of $1.22 and $17.43 billion in revenue in the same period of last year.
Early in June the board of directors announced that it had raised the quarterly dividend by 7.1%, from $0.56 to $0.60. The new dividend is payable September 10, 2016, to shareholders of record on August 17.
Target posted a revenue decline of more than 5% in its first quarter of fiscal 2016, and that took shares down 7% in one trading session. The stock basically flatlined at that level for three weeks.
Although the numbers were mixed in the first quarter, albeit with better-than-expected earnings, guidance seemingly cratered this stock. Some might attribute this to the Amazon effect, while others are seeing this as a weather-related issue.
A few analysts weighed in on Target ahead of earnings:
- Deutsche Bank has a Hold rating.
- Jefferies has a $72 price target.
- Nomura has a Hold rating and a $75 price target.
- Miller Tabak has a Buy rating and an $87 price target.
- Piper Jaffray reiterated an Outperform rating with an $86 price target.
- Argus reiterated a Hold rating.
- BMO Capital Markets reiterated a Market Perform rating with a $76 price target.
- Morgan Stanley reiterated an Underweight rating.
So far in 2016, Target has slightly underperformed the broad markets, with the stock up about 6.5%. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is actually down 1%.
Shares of Target were trading at $75.63 on Tuesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $77.97 and a 52-week trading range of $65.50 to $84.62.
Want to Retire Early? Start Here (Sponsor)
Want retirement to come a few years earlier than you’d planned? Or are you ready to retire now, but want an extra set of eyes on your finances?
Now you can speak with up to 3 financial experts in your area for FREE. By simply clicking here you can begin to match with financial professionals who can help you build your plan to retire early. And the best part? The first conversation with them is free.
Click here to match with up to 3 financial pros who would be excited to help you make financial decisions.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.