(This Feb. 28 story corrects earnings per share forecast to a range of $1.00 to $1.02 from 85 to 87 cents in paragraph 9)

FILE PHOTO: A sign is seen outside a T.J. Maxx store in Skokie, Illinois, U.S. May 13, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo

(Reuters) - Off-price apparel retailer TJX Cos Inc TJX.N on Wednesday beat analysts' estimates for holiday-quarter same-store sales as discounts drew more shoppers to its Marmaxx and TJX Canada stores, sending its shares to a record high.

The company’s shares rose as much as 8.6 percent to $83.95 in early trading.

TJX, which has succeeded in bucking the larger slowdown in apparel sales due to its treasure-hunt type bargain deals, had said it had started the holiday quarter by shipping more cold-weather apparel and had been “in a terrific inventory position”.

The retail climate during the holiday season improved for the first time in years, as a robust economy encouraged shoppers to spend more on clothing and accessories.

“We see abundant opportunities in the marketplace for major brands and high-quality merchandise and are pursuing numerous initiatives to keep driving sales and customer traffic”, Chief Executive Officer Ernie Herrman said.

TJX also raised its quarterly dividend by 25 percent to 39 cents per share and said it would repurchase about $2.5 billion to $3 billion worth of shares this fiscal year.

Same-store sales rose 4 percent in the reported quarter, beating estimates of 2.1 percent.

Marmaxx, the company’s biggest and most profitable unit which includes T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores, recorded comparable-store sales that rose 3 percent, beating estimates of 1.5 percent.

For the first quarter, TJX also forecast earnings of $1.00 to $1.02 per share, above analysts’ average estimate of 99 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Excluding items, the company earned $1.30 per share. Net sales rose 15.8 percent to $10.96 billion.

Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $1.28 per share on revenue of $10.76 billion.