Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Sunday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on GEN. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Gen Digital in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.71.

Gen Digital Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:GEN opened at $26.52 on Friday. Gen Digital has a 12 month low of $22.74 and a 12 month high of $32.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.48. The firm has a market cap of $16.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.34, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.94.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.04. Gen Digital had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 57.99%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. Gen Digital has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.600-0.620 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 2.490-2.560 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Gen Digital will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is currently 51.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,249,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,094,743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558,983 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,543,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,566,000 after purchasing an additional 349,289 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,473,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406,869 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 15,899,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,253,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $449,507,000 after purchasing an additional 101,791 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gen Digital Company Profile

Gen Digital Inc engages in the provision of cyber safety solutions for consumers in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. The company offers security and performance products under Norton, Avast, Avira, AVG, and CCleaner brands that provide real-time protection and maintenance for PCs, Macs, and mobile devices against malware, viruses, adware, and other online threats.