Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $205.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI restated an outperform rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $212.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a neutral rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Broadridge Financial Solutions has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $206.67.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BR opened at $196.29 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $200.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.12 billion, a PE ratio of 34.20 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $143.95 and a fifty-two week high of $210.24.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 41.12% and a net margin of 10.82%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 7.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 55.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 22,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.00, for a total value of $4,521,678.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 44,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,891,320. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Robert N. Duelks sold 830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.58, for a total transaction of $167,311.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,097,603.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 22,722 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.00, for a total value of $4,521,678.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,680 shares in the company, valued at $8,891,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,483 shares of company stock valued at $9,745,637. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadridge Financial Solutions

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 33.5% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 550 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions during the third quarter worth approximately $210,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 37.7% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC increased its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 217.2% in the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 4,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 47.8% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,696,000 after buying an additional 6,678 shares during the period. 90.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Broadridge Financial Solutions

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions.