TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $128.00 and last traded at $126.22, with a volume of 1474872 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $124.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TJX has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup upgraded TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $128.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price target on TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of TJX Companies in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on TJX Companies from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on TJX Companies from $136.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, TJX Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.76.

TJX Companies Trading Down 2.8 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.96.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.07. The business 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 analysts expect that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This is an increase from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 484,189 shares in the company, valued at $59,569,772.67. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 3.9% during the first quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 17,508 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $2,132,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the period. Legacy Private Trust Co. raised its position in TJX Companies by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 35,916 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $4,375,000 after purchasing an additional 7,912 shares during the last quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in TJX Companies by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 196,481 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $23,931,000 after buying an additional 11,867 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH increased its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 7.1% in the first quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 280,277 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $34,138,000 after buying an additional 18,699 shares during the period. Finally, Prostatis Group LLC increased its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. 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.