Jefferies analyst Daniel Binder has put a cautionary "hold" call on the stock of Target Corp. His two-month target price is $59 per share. That's a gloomy take on the big retailer, which traded around $64 in November, before falling to a year-end close of $59.17. That came amid worries about consumer holiday spending. And some market strategists doubt retailers will improve without a surging economy and consumer confidence.
Binder spelled out the most pessimistic case for Target, which closed Friday at $60.58. But the 16 other retail analysts who cover Target see a brighter outlook.
HUTCH TECH: 'BUY'
Analyst Christian Schwab of Craig-Hallum Capital has resumed coverage with a "buy" on beaten-up Hutchinson Technology. Schwab said last week that he sees a $4 per share price this year. He put the "buy" on in late November, when the stock was at $1.50. He projects a first full-year profit of 52 cents per share in fiscal 2015.
Schwab looks smart so far as Hutch, which makes suspension assemblies for hard-disk drives, closed Friday at $2.16, up 11.3 percent for the week. Insiders bought nearly 200,000 shares since last summer at prices as low as $1.25 per share.
NEAL ST. ANTHONY
