Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Separately, Sidoti raised Pitney Bowes to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th.

Pitney Bowes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PBI opened at $9.55 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.47. Pitney Bowes has a 52-week low of $4.62 and a 52-week high of $11.01.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.05. Pitney Bowes had a negative return on equity of 20.95% and a negative net margin of 7.71%. The firm had revenue of $493.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $498.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.01) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pitney Bowes will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This is a boost from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio is -30.77%.

Insider Activity

In other Pitney Bowes news, EVP James Arthur Fairweather sold 130,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.83, for a total transaction of $1,407,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,907,650.35. This trade represents a 42.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 481,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total value of $5,182,513.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 584,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,296,529.72. This represents a 45.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 613,244 shares of company stock valued at $6,607,591 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pitney Bowes

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PBI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes during the first quarter worth $36,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Pitney Bowes by 130.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,078 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 2,873 shares during the period. KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes in the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Pitney Bowes during the 1st quarter worth $98,000. 67.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes Inc, a shipping and mailing company, provides technology, logistics, and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, large enterprises, retailers, and government clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through Global Ecommerce, Presort Services, and SendTech Solutions segments.