Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $3.29 Million Holdings in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX)

Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,018 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock after buying an additional 216 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in TJX Companies were worth $3,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in TJX Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of TJX Companies during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in TJX Companies by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 389 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in TJX Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in TJX Companies by 86.7% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 478 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailer’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TJX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of TJX Companies in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised TJX Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. 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 boosted their target price on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered TJX Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen 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 $102.65.

TJX Companies Price Performance

Shares of TJX stock remained flat at $94.09 on Wednesday. The company had a trading volume of 2,786,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,025,018. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $75.65 and a one year high of $102.84. The firm has a market cap of $106.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.02.

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

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

TJX Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. 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 1.59%. TJX Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.46%.

TJX Companies Company 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.