Finance & Capital Management

Minneapolis — Target has donated $37,500 in monetary support and product to assist with tornado relief efforts underway in the central United States. The donation includes $25,000 cash for the American Red Cross to aid their efforts and an additional $12,500 that can be used either as cash or product donations to local organizations in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri.

YONKERS, N.Y. — After three consecutive months of improvement, the Consumer Reports Index for March slipped to 46.1, from 49.6 last month.

March's Consumer Reports Index measures overall consumer financial health and showed that the confidence of the American consumer is waning.

Further challenging consumer confidence, The Trouble Tracker Index increased slightly this month to 52.2 from 49.1 in February, and is now at its highest level since August 2011.

SECAUCUS, N.J. — The Children's Place Retail Stores is the latest retailer to report fourth-quarter sales that were negatively impacted by the unseasonably warm weather this winter. The company said that comparable-store sales for the quarter declined 2.7%, and net sales were up only slightly (0.9%) to $457.5 million from $453.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2010. 

Children's Place also reported a drop in income from continuing operations after tax from $32.7 million, or $1.24 per diluted share, to $24.2 million, or 97 cents per diluted share.

Houston — Profits at apparel retailer Stage Stores rose 2% to $32.7 million during the fourth quarter, from $32 million a year earlier.

Revenue increased 6% to $479.1 million from $453.7 million, beating Wall Street's $468.2 million forecast.

For the year, Stage Stores reported net income of $31 million, down from $37.6 million in the prior year. Annual revenue climbed 3% to $1.51 billion.

Target ranked 25th on Fortune’s listing of the 50 Most Admired Companies, which is the lowest level in the past six years. The decline could be viewed as troubling, but only if you buy into the notion that the list is the definitive report card on corporate reputations.

It is not, at least as far as retailers are concerned. In 2011 and 2010, Target was ranked 22nd, down from 2009 when it was ranked 19th and considerably below 2008 when it nearly broke into the top 10 with a ranking of 11th after a ranking of 13th in 2007.

NEW YORK — Foot Locker is embarking on an aggressive strategic plan designed to elevate its performance for the 2012 to 2016 period. 

Yonkers, N.Y. -- After three consecutive months of improvement, the Consumer Reports Index for March slipped to 46.1, from 49.6 last month.

March's Consumer Reports Index measures overall consumer financial health and showed that the confidence of the American consumer is waning.

Further challenging consumer confidence, The Trouble Tracker Index increased slightly this month to 52.2 from 49.1 in February, and is now at its highest level since August 2011.

PITTSBURGH — Forty new Dick’s Sporting Good stores are slated to open this year as the company remains undaunted by a weak fourth-quarter same-store sales performance at U.S. stores brought on by warmer than normal weather.