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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

Pitney Bowes Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of Pitney Bowes stock opened at $9.07 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of -8.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $9.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.10. Pitney Bowes has a fifty-two week low of $3.90 and a fifty-two week high of $11.01.

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The technology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.16. Pitney Bowes had a negative net margin of 7.71% and a negative return on equity of 20.95%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pitney Bowes will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. This is a positive change from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -21.43%.

Insider Activity

In other Pitney Bowes news, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total transaction of $315,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 124,124 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,598.48. This represents a 22.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kurt James Wolf sold 78,285 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.66, for a total value of $834,518.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 606,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,463,040.74. This represents a 11.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock worth $19,815,631 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 14.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Pitney Bowes in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 130.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,078 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 2,873 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 889.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 8,319 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 7,478 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pitney Bowes by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,283 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 3,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $107,000. 67.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.