Nearly a year after its infamous security breach, Minneapolis-based Target (TGT, Financial) was showing signs of bouncing back. But now, more than a year later, there seems to be no doubt of it. Happy days are here again.
Sales and earnings are up. Revenue is up. The stock price is higher than it has ever been.
Target’s P/E is 0, its Price/Book is 3.8 and its Price/Sales is 0.7.
Actually, Target will be laying off some workers this year, the company confirmed, but that is being hailed as a needed cost-cutting measure. Analysts have been raising Target earnings estimates through the first three months of 2015.
If you have been to a Target store recently, you may have noticed evidence of the chain's emphasis on style, especially for children and infants but also for adults, and efforts to cash in on the increasing interest in organic foods appear to make it a contender for customers of its primary competitors, Walmart (WMT, Financial), Whole Foods Market (WFM, Financial) and Kroger (KR, Financial).
Guru Martin Whitman (Trades, Portfolio) sold 131,700 shares of his stake in Target for an average price of $77.24 per share in January. That was more than 14% higher than the price he paid for them in the fourth quarter, but if he had waited until last Friday to sell those same shares, he would have realized a profit of better than 22%.
More Target insiders actively traded Target stock in March than in any month since well before the breach.
Two Target directors, James Johnson and Roxanne S. Austin, sold 13,556 and 9,081 shares, respectively, in March, and seven executive officers – Kathryn A. Tesija, Tina M. Tyler, Timothy R. Baer, John J. Mulligan, Jeffrey J. Jones II, Carl L. Casey and Tina M. Schiel – sold company stock as well.
Five gurus – Whitman, Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Dodge & Cox, James Barrow (Trades, Portfolio) and Charles Brandes (Trades, Portfolio) – continue to hold shares of Target in their portfolios. Gurus Tom Gayner (Trades, Portfolio) and John Hussman (Trades, Portfolio) sold their stakes in the fourth quarter.
To view guru stock purchases, visit the Real Time Guru Stock Picks page. Not a premium member of GuruFocus? Try it free for 7 days.
