TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays boosted their price target on TJX Companies from $136.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on TJX Companies from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two 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, TJX Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.06.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

TJX stock traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $120.55. 4,003,295 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,852,051. TJX Companies has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $128.00. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $135.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.19.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.07. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. The business had revenue of $16.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.24 billion. On average, analysts forecast that TJX Companies will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at TJX Companies

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of TJX Companies stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 484,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,569,772.67. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total value of $988,240.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TJX Companies

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of TJX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in TJX Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $1,670,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of TJX Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $570,342,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of TJX Companies by 689.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,595,085 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $313,512,000 after acquiring an additional 2,266,415 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted 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 worth $1,689,628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,845,225 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in TJX Companies by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,300,919 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $1,486,074,000 after acquiring an additional 1,403,561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

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.