Target stock remains committed to returning a strong dividend to its investors.  The recent increase raised its quarterly dividend nearly 50% to $0.25.  This marks 43 consecutive years that the company has increased its dividend.  This puts the total dividend for the company nearly to 2 percent.  This is a strong record and commitment to being an income stock.    With the relatively healthy dividend and low price-to-earnings ratio at the moment Target looks to be an attractive investment at this point.  As a retailer, however, it remains highly sensitive to consumer income and tastes.  It tends to lose sales more quickly than its peers during economic downturns and is often seen as the ‘fancy’ Wal-Mart.