Xerox (NYSE:XRX) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Xerox (NYSE:XRX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Xerox from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th.

Xerox Price Performance

Shares of NYSE XRX opened at $16.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -82.20 and a beta of 1.56. Xerox has a 52 week low of $12.06 and a 52 week high of $19.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Xerox (NYSE:XRX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The information technology services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.09). Xerox had a return on equity of 9.41% and a net margin of 0.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. Xerox’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Xerox will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xerox Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.08%. Xerox’s payout ratio is currently -500.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Xerox by 20.2% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 560,997 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $11,315,000 after buying an additional 94,090 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Xerox in the first quarter valued at approximately $604,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Xerox by 14.5% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,887 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 3,654 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Xerox by 24.4% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,232 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 1,615 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Xerox by 12.6% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,121 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 1,807 shares during the period. 85.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Xerox

Xerox Holdings Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a workplace technology company that integrates hardware, services, and software for enterprises in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Print and Other; and FITTLE.