If You Invested $1,000 In Target A Decade Ago, Here's How Much Money You'd Have Today

Target is a storied and beloved retailer with over a century of history. The Minneapolis-headquartered retailing giant started out in 1902. The firm became publicly traded back in 1967 under the name of the Dayton Corporation.

The Target brand has seen phenomenal growth in the past 60 years. Its stores were only one of five divisions when Dayton went public. Today there are nearly 2,000 Target locations throughout the U.S.

NYSE Target stock (TGT) has performed extremely well over its long history. A single share purchased at the IPO in 1967 for $34 is now more than 96 shares with a value around $15,000. Besides this, TGT is labeled a Dividend Aristocrat as a stock that pays out increasing dividends each year for the past 25 years, per Yahoo! Finance. If you had invested $1,000 in Target a decade ago, you would have more than doubled your money with dividend payments included.

Target is essentially an American general merchandise retailer. It sells clothing for all ages of men and women, starting with newborn and infant apparel. This includes accessories, jewelry, and shoes. It also carries personal and beauty products, baby gear, pet supplies, and cleaning and paper products.

The retailer further offers a wide range of grocery and beverage items from dairy and frozen food to candy and snacks. Target's expansive inventory also includes goods like furniture, luggage, sporting goods, video games, entertainment, toys, kitchenware, home decor, and office/school supplies. In many ways it bills itself as a one stop shop like chief rival Walmart.

As Yahoo! Finance points out, Target's creative and design partnerships have helped to keep the company relevant in today's changing retail environment. The company stores foster a special brand loyalty shopping experience and provide on location amenities such as hot food and drinks. Besides its physical outlets, Target has established a number of digital sales channels, including Target.com where users can unlock Target's best deals.

The retailer's stock fundamentals have struggled some in the past few years but are steadily improving. Its current fiscal year had an earnings-per-share consensus of $8.68, representing a 2.9% decline from last year. Despite this, the next fiscal year outlook is brighter. Earnings estimate consensus is for $9.32, a positive change of 7.4% over the Target report from a year ago, as related by Zacks on Yahoo! Finance.

Per data from the NYSE, one share of TGT on February 1, 2015 opened at $73.19. As of February 1, 2025 the stock closed at $134.58. The share price change equates to a gain for investors of 83.9% before Target's generous and steadily increasing dividends are included.

Investors who bought $1,000 of TGT stock have been rewarded. Such a stake in February 2015 would have purchased 13.7 shares. These shares now are worth almost $1,844. Target dividends have also paid out $32 per share over the past decade, per NASDAQ data, adding $438.40 in returns to the shares' value. The total value of these TGT shares plus dividends is now over $2,282, bringing the total return on an investor's $1,000 from a decade ago to over 128%.