Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Rogers Communication in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a report on Friday, December 26th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

Rogers Communication Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of RCI stock opened at $36.87 on Friday. Rogers Communication has a 1 year low of $23.18 and a 1 year high of $40.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.41. The company has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a PE ratio of 3.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.74.

Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The Wireless communications provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $4.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.94 billion. Rogers Communication had a return on equity of 14.22% and a net margin of 32.29%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Research analysts predict that Rogers Communication will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Rogers Communication Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. Rogers Communication’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rogers Communication

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Rogers Communication during the second quarter valued at approximately $78,714,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Rogers Communication by 67.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,866,999 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $167,765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,966,476 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Rogers Communication by 261.2% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,102,076 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $72,280,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520,062 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new stake in Rogers Communication during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,082,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Rogers Communication by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 8,344,925 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $287,340,000 after buying an additional 1,272,065 shares during the period. 45.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Rogers Communication

Rogers Communications Inc is a Canadian integrated communications and media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company provides a broad range of telecommunications services to residential and business customers across Canada, including wireless voice and data services, cable television, high-speed internet, and home phone services. In the enterprise market it offers managed IT, data center and cloud solutions, networking and connectivity services targeted to small businesses, large enterprises and public sector clients.

In addition to connectivity services, Rogers operates a significant media portfolio that includes national and regional television and radio assets, sports broadcasting properties and other content businesses.