CENTRAL TRUST Co Raises Stock Holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,263 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $4,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in TJX Companies by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,206,766 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock valued at $9,025,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,078 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of TJX Companies by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,008,484 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $4,622,514,000 after buying an additional 6,036,764 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in TJX Companies by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,752,978 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $2,200,045,000 after purchasing an additional 371,163 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in TJX Companies by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,219,312 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $1,333,913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in TJX Companies by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,734,141 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $1,220,690,000 after purchasing an additional 313,530 shares in the last quarter. 91.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TJX Companies Stock Performance

Shares of TJX Companies stock traded up $3.42 on Wednesday, reaching $101.12. 14,855,603 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,217,752. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.65 and a twelve month high of $104.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $97.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.97.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.06. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 64.18% and a net margin of 8.25%. The company had revenue of $12.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. TJX Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel and home fashions retailer to buy up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This is a boost from TJX Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. TJX Companies’s payout ratio is 38.86%.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on TJX shares. Evercore ISI set a $113.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $100.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $114.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $112.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a report on Friday, May 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.56.

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.