Target's Ugly Q4 Has Stock At Lowest Level Since August 2014

Shares of Target Corporation TGT traded lower by around 15 percent ahead of Tuesday's open after the retailing giant reported its fourth quarter results.

Analysts were expecting Target to earn $1.51 per share in the quarter on revenue of $20.70 billion; The company reported an earnings per share of $1.45 on revenue of $20.69 billion. Comparable sales for the quarter fell 1.5 percent, which was on the high-end of the company's own guidance of negative 1.5 to negative 1.0 percent.

By category, comparable digital channel sales rose 34 percent, comparable sales growth in Signature Categories outpaced total comparable sales by nearly 3 percentage points. Comparable traffic rose 0.2 percent.

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Target said it will provide details on some of the investments it's making in its business and financial model to better position the chain for future growth.

During the quarter, Target paid shareholders $337 million in the form of dividends and bought back $565 million worth of its own stock.

"Our fourth quarter results reflect the impact of rapidly-changing consumer behavior, which drove very strong digital growth but unexpected softness in our stores," said Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO of Target.

Looking forward to the first quarter, Target guided its earnings per share to a range of $0.80 to $1.00 versus the $1.33 per share analysts were already expecting.

The company also expects to earn $3.80 to $4.20 per share for the full fiscal year versus the $5.34 per share analysts were expecting.

Shares traded recently at $57.91, down 13.4 percent.