Natixis Advisors L.P. Grows Stock Position in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 80.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,254,186 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after buying an additional 560,273 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $117,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its position in shares of TJX Companies by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 73,466 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $6,530,000 after purchasing an additional 19,236 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of TJX Companies by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 603,482 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $56,613,000 after acquiring an additional 21,767 shares during the last quarter. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of TJX Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,197,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,108 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 5,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of TJX Companies by 109.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 148,954 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $13,239,000 after acquiring an additional 77,711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TJX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group upgraded TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $132.00 in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, TJX Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.29.

TJX Companies Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:TJX traded up $1.18 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $95.00. The stock had a trading volume of 3,725,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,041,536. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $97.11 and its 200-day moving average is $94.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.21. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.65 and a 1 year high of $102.84.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.10. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 64.18% and a net margin of 8.25%. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. TJX Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This is a positive change from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.46%.

TJX Companies announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 28th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel and home fashions retailer to reacquire up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total value of $1,979,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 515,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Ernie Herrman sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.98, for a total value of $1,979,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,053,982.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total value of $266,248.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,968,480.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.