Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 28,143 Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,992,363 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,143 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.18% of TJX Companies worth $240,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of TJX Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC acquired a new position in TJX Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in TJX Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in TJX Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of TJX Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on TJX. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of TJX Companies from $138.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of TJX Companies from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on TJX Companies from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on TJX Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.53.

TJX Companies Trading Down 1.2 %

TJX opened at $124.33 on Tuesday. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $128.00. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $123.17 and its 200 day moving average is $119.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.77 billion, a PE ratio of 29.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.91.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.95 billion. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 61.82% and a net margin of 8.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is currently 35.29%.

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.