Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,290,000 shares, a growth of 16.9% from the April 30th total of 10,510,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days. Currently, 7.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. James J. Burns & Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 18,587 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 1,637 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in Pitney Bowes by 14.6% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 12,884 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Pitney Bowes by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Pitney Bowes by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 102,197 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pitney Bowes by 130.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,078 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 2,873 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Pitney Bowes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Sidoti raised shares of Pitney Bowes to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

NYSE PBI opened at $10.32 on Friday. Pitney Bowes has a fifty-two week low of $4.62 and a fifty-two week high of $11.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $8.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.72. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.61.

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

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is a positive change from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Pitney Bowes’s payout ratio is -30.77%.

Pitney Bowes Company Profile

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.