Target, the nation's second-largest discount chain, now operates more than 1,500 Target and Super Target stores in 47 states, as well as an online business called Target.com. Target and its largest grocery stores, Super Target, have carved out a niche by offering more sophisticated and trendy products than rivals Wal-Mart and Kmart. After years of struggling to turn around department store divisions Marshall Fields and Mervyns, the discount retailer sold both in 2004. Target also owns apparel supplier The Associated Merchandising Corp. and issues the Target Visa and its proprietary Target Card (www. Answers.com/ topic/target-corporation). Year over year, Target Corp. was able to increase revenue from $51.3 billion to $57.9 billion. Most impressively, the company managed to reduce the percentage of sales dedicated to cost of goods sold from 69.64% to 69.29%. This was a driver that led to profit growth from $2.4 billion to $2.8 billion. Target outperformed (corporate governance quotient) 85.5% of S&P 500 companies and 97.7% of discount retailers. The corporate governance quotient incorporates the values ​​of transparency, accountability, integrity and accountability towards maximizing shareholder value. Yahoo analyst opinions indicate that the recommendation is currently at 2.2, indicating a Moderate Buy to Hold (a 1.0 is a Strong Buy and a 5.0 is a Strong Sell). Moody's Investors Service downgraded the retailer's long-term debt rating to A2 from A1. The credit ratings firm said the cut was due to Target's plan to use debt to finance a $10 billion stock repurchase. The company's buyback represents more than 20% of outstanding shares and is expected to be completed within three years. The CEO believes the new program will maintain strong investment grade debt ratings within a prudent range, while enabling substantial value returned to shareholders (www.investors.target.com). Moody's also called Target's free cash flow "poor," given the discount retailer's considerable capital spending on store expansion and its growing credit card operations (www.Marketwatch.com). The contribution of the company's credit card operations to third-quarter earnings before taxes, net of allocated interest expense, was $157 million, an increase of $23 million, or 17.1 percent, compared to the same period in 2006. Ratios – End of third quarter 3- Nov-07 (in millions)Current - 18,334 / 13,563 = 1.35 current assets / current liabilitiesQuick – 18,334 - 8,746 / 13,563 = 0.71 current assets – inventories/current liabilitiesInv. Turnover – 14,835 / 8,746 = 1.69 sales / inventories Total asset turnover (TAT) – 14,835 / 43,289 = .