Shares of The TJX Companies Inc. (TJX – Analyst Report) hit a new 52-week high of $79.20 on March 31, a day after the company announced a 24% dividend hike. In fact, the company has been gaining momentum since the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter fiscal 2016 results this February. Shares of this off-price retailer of apparel and home goods eventually closed at $78.35, recording a return of 10.49% year-to-date.

TJX Companies' shares have been on the uptrend over the past couple of years supported by the consistently high comparable-store sales (comps).

Growth Drivers

On March 30, TJX confirmed its plan to hike the quarterly dividend to 26 cents per share which will be paid on June 2, 2016 to shareholders of record as on May 12. The new dividend will yield 1.3% annually or $1.04 per share for fiscal 2016, up from 84 cents. This marks the 20th consecutive year of quarterly dividend hikes.

The discount retailer's quarterly dividend grew at a compounded annual growth rate of 23% over the past year.

Further, the company reported solid fiscal fourth-quarter 2016 results. Earnings of 99 cents per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 94 cents and grew 6% year over year. Higher consumer traffic and solid comps growth in all the months of the quarter led to the improvement. Net sales rose 8% year over year to $9.0 billion supported by higher comps and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.7 billion.

Stocks to Consider

TJX Companies currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the retail sector are Burlington Stores Inc. (BURL – Snapshot Report), Dollar General Stores Inc. (DG – Analyst Report) and Target Corporation (TGT – Analyst Report). All these stocks have a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).