Piper Jaffray Sees Strong Signs in Target Corp.

This morning, a report was published by Piper Jaffray analyst Sean Naughton identifying many of the reasons he rated TGT Target Overweight. As many as 12 other firms agreed with Naughton's rating of Target as a Buy and 17 gave a rating of Hold. Of the many reasons to warrant the Buy rating, Naughton mentioned specifically that "robust sales growth", coupled with a strong fourth quarter were persuasive driving factors. Another factor to the positive rating of the retail giant Target, was the strong dollar that would be helping lower import costs of their apparel. Lastly, the "Redperks" Program that Target initiated has become a customer loyalty program success in the eyes of Naughton, citing that it was a "Good addition" without forcing customers to open a credit card. Compared to the current $77 average target price that other firms have set for Target, Naughton believes that Target's price target should be $85. With that being said, the $8 difference between the consensus price target and Naughton's target shows he believes there is 10.67% of upside potential. As of Tuesday afternoon, Target is trading near the $77 dollar mark at $76.70 .