Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

RCI has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Rogers Communication from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Rogers Communication from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Desjardins restated a “hold” rating on shares of Rogers Communication in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Rogers Communication in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.00.

Rogers Communication Price Performance

Rogers Communication stock opened at $32.76 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $17.70 billion, a PE ratio of 3.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.64. Rogers Communication has a one year low of $31.38 and a one year high of $41.14.

Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI) (TSE:RCI.B) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.03. Rogers Communication had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 27.54%.The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Rogers Communication will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rogers Communication Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.1%. Rogers Communication’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCI. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Rogers Communication by 52.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 934,712 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $27,724,000 after acquiring an additional 321,124 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Rogers Communication by 52.6% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Rogers Communication by 36.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 37,179 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 9,951 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rogers Communication by 7.0% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 11,007 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Rogers Communication by 231.1% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 49,945 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after purchasing an additional 34,860 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.49% of the company’s stock.

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.