Guardian Capital LP Acquires 87,044 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Guardian Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 797.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,966 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 87,044 shares during the quarter. Guardian Capital LP’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $11,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TJX Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC bought a new position in shares of TJX Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in shares of TJX Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in TJX Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of TJX Companies during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 91.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on TJX shares. 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 research report on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of TJX Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on TJX Companies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.38.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

TJX opened at $128.14 on Wednesday. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.39 and a twelve month high of $131.30. The stock has a market cap of $143.14 billion, a PE ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $122.13 and its 200-day moving average is $121.65. 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 (NYSE:TJX) last posted 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. TJX Companies had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 61.82%. The firm had revenue of $16.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.24 billion. On average, analysts predict that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. This is a positive change from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Alan M. Bennett sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.53, for a total value of $988,240.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 23,428 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 currently owned by insiders.

TJX Companies 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.