Credit Suisse Maintains on Target

In a report published Thursday, Credit Suisse analyst Michael Exstein maintained Neutral on Target (NYSE: TGT), lowering its price target from $62.00 to $55.00.

According to the report, following TGT's difficulty in achieving positive comps in the US in 2013, and tougher than expected conditions in its entry into Canada, the analysts take a look at two scenarios, even as the company as recently as Nov. stands by its objective of $8.00 in EPS and $6.00 bn in Canadian sales in 2017. TGT has traditionally been a good growth and income investment, but dilution from Canada and persistent issues in the core US business make the $8.00 EPS goal increasingly difficult to attain.

“Implied Canadian volumes have continued to deteriorate,” the report noted. “In early September, we estimated an annualized Canada productivity of $21 mn per unit. After TGT's 3Q earnings, we lowered our estimate to $19.9 mn; and based on TGT's disclosure on January 8, we now estimate that 2013E annualized volumes per unit were $18-19 mn for the 124 Canadian units opened during the year, with total annual sales of $1.2 bn.”

TGT closed Wednesday at $58.56.