Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

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

Pitney Bowes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PBI opened at $10.05 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.79. Pitney Bowes has a 1 year low of $3.90 and a 1 year high of $11.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.01.

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

Pitney Bowes Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This is an increase from Pitney Bowes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Pitney Bowes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -21.43%.

Insider Activity at Pitney Bowes

In other Pitney Bowes news, EVP James Arthur Fairweather sold 130,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.83, for a total value of $1,407,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,907,650.35. This trade represents a 42.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Deborah Pfeiffer sold 35,000 shares of Pitney Bowes stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total value of $315,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 124,124 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,598.48. The trade was a 22.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,974,484 shares of company stock valued at $19,815,631. 14.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Pitney Bowes by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,162,512 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $153,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,716 shares during the period. Hestia Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pitney Bowes in the fourth quarter worth $114,326,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Pitney Bowes by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,628,672 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,878,000 after purchasing an additional 51,093 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,814,811 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,139,000 after purchasing an additional 586,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Pitney Bowes by 103.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,269,207 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,189,000 after purchasing an additional 644,002 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.88% of the company’s stock.

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.