Target (TGT) is the third largest discount retailer in the United States based on market cap, behind only Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) and Costco (COST).

The company was founded in 1902 and has paid increasing dividends for 48 consecutive years.

Target’s former CEO Gregg Steinhafel – and Target shareholders – did not have a good run in 2013 and 2014.  Steinhafel oversaw Target’s expansion into Canada…  The company lost $2 billion in 2 years in Canada. The Canadian expansion was plagued by poor execution, stocking issues, and higher than expected prices.

In addition to the Canada debacle, Target also had a massive data breach at the end of 2013 which compromised around 40 million customer Target credit card numbers.  The breach could cost Target upwards of $500 million after accounting for card reissuance costs and settlements.

Former CEO Gregg Steinhafel was replaced in 2014 by Brian Cornell.  Cornell is the first CEO hired from outside of Target in the company’s history.  Cornell’s impressive resume is as follows:

At Safeway, earnings-per-share grew from $1.25 in 2004 to $1.99 in 2007 while Brian Cornell held a senior management position.  Of course, it is very difficult to say if strong growth over that period is directly attributed to him or not.

Cornell left Safeway to become CEO of Michaels from 2007 to 2009.  The company was owned by 3 private equity groups at the time, so results are not publicly available.

Cornell must have done well at Michaels, as Wal-Mart hired him to run Sam’s Club in 2009.  Cornell boosted operating income at Sam’s Club from $1.5 billion to $2.00 billion in his tenure there – a compound growth rate of 10.1% a year.