IDT (NYSE:IDT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of IDT (NYSE:IDT) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

IDT Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE IDT opened at $47.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $49.45 and its 200-day moving average is $42.26. IDT has a 1 year low of $32.08 and a 1 year high of $58.77.

IDT (NYSE:IDT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $308.83 million during the quarter. IDT had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 22.18%.

IDT Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 24th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.42%. IDT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.85%.

Insider Activity at IDT

In other IDT news, CFO Marcelo Fischer sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.57, for a total transaction of $29,142.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,824,920.61. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO David Wartell sold 17,116 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total transaction of $806,334.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,698 shares of company stock worth $2,492,643. 25.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of IDT

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in IDT by 9.3% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of IDT by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 26,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $964,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in shares of IDT by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 20,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of IDT in the third quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of IDT by 15.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547 shares during the last quarter. 59.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

IDT Company Profile

IDT Corporation provides communications and payment services in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through Fintech, National Retail Solutions, net2phone, and Traditional Communications segments. The company operates point of sale, a terminal-based platform which provides independent retailers store management software, electronic payment processing, and other ancillary merchant services; and provides marketers with digital out-of-home advertising and transaction data.